Library of Moments
by Puph 17
Summary: Summary: A collection of Smash Bros oneshots focusing on friendship, humor and more! Everybody is here!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! I just wanted to put out a brief message explaining what this fic will be. This fic will be a collection of disconnected oneshots. I have quite a few oneshot ideas, and I thought it might help me to have a single fic to post all of them in, as I tend to struggle to come up with titles and especially descriptions. The oneshots will center around various Smash characters with various genres. There won't be any sort of upload schedule - I'll just put a new oneshot in whenever I complete a new one. Finally, these oneshots will tie in with an upcoming longfic. As such, certain characters have been tweaked for plot reasons, and others won't be making appearances till they appear in the longfic to avoid spoilers. With all that out of the way, let's start filling up that library!**

* * *

Fox walked into his favorite coffee shop. The freshy brewed scent of coffee reached his nose. It was a smaller coffee shop in quiet corner of Harmony City, the central hub of the galaxy at large, the meeting place of the Galactic Assembly, and home of the Smasher's headquarters, Smash Mansion. Fox personally had enjoyed their excellent variety of carryout breakfasts and high-quality coffee. As such, he'd become a regular customer.

Fox stepped into the line. Thankfully, it wasn't too long. It was a slow Saturday morning after all. Fox glanced around the place, taking in the sights. His eyes fell to the back of the coffee shop, where a musician was playing a song on an acoustic guitar and singing into a microphone. She looked vaguely familiar, but he payed it little attention. To be fair, her music was pretty good, but his stomach was still empty, and breakfast was waiting.

The person in front of him walked away from the counter, food in hand. Fox stepped up to the register. The cashier smiled as she saw him.

"Hello Mr. Fox! The usual today?"

"Yes please, Cheryl!" said Fox.

"Very well!"

Cheryl turned on her heel.

"One Big Breakfast Combo!" she shouted.

In a few short minutes, Fox's breakfast was out on a tray in his hands. A large, steaming cup of coffee, small carton of hash browns, and a plastic cup of assorted fruit sat next to a breakfast sandwich, an omelet arranged within a sliced bagel. Fox sat down in a booth and rubbed his hands. In his opinion, this was how you started your morning off right!

After a several minutes, Fox leaned back with a contented sigh. It wasn't often that he was in Harmony City, but this place had the absolute best breakfasts one could ask for. Which was why he always came here to eat. He looked around the building. There were many customers scattered about. Some were eating, others were studying. One couple looked to be out on a date. A cheerful level of conversation buzzed throughout the entire place.

Fox's eyes fell back on the musician. Something about her seemed familiar. He couldn't place it, though. Wasn't the music, that was for sure. Indie rock wasn't his usual taste in music, and he didn't have many indie rock songs on his own playlist. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, trying not to obviously stare. No, it was her appearance that looked familiar. What was it, though? Platinum blond hair, blue eyes, slim build…

Now it was irking him. It wasn't Peach's long-lost cousin or something? Because she definitely looked like somebody he knew.

Fox blinked. Wait. He recognized her. He definitely recognized her. He blinked again. Yeah….that looked like…..Rosalina? But she was wearing a black tank top and jeans. Fox had never seen the Space Princess without her signature blue dress, but that hairdo was a dead giveaway. Yeah, she might be fooling the public at large, but Fox knew better. He knew his fellow Smashers when he saw them. Since when did Rosalina play the guitar, though? Where were her Lumas?

The song drew to a close, and Rosalina said, "All right! One more song before we pack it up! This one's called Stars on the Lake!"

Fox drained the remainder of his coffee as the last song started up. Yup. Stars reference. Had to be Rosalina. He leaned back in his chair. Time to see how good she was.

* * *

Some time later, the song ended. There was a small round of applause, which Fox joined. Rosalina waved, slid off the stool she'd been sitting on, and began packing her guitar up. She was good. Real good. He didn't know that any of the princesses besides Zelda had any musical talent.

Fox pulled himself out of his chair and sauntered up to her as the patrons of the café turned back to their own business.

"You ever consider going professional with that music? You'd be an instant hit!"

Rosalina looked up from her guitar case with a jump. "Fox?"

Fox smiled. "Didn't expect to see you here!"

"Oh, I…uh…"

"That was amazing!" said Fox. "I didn't know you were that good with music!"

"Oh, please, I'm just an amateur," said Rosalina, bashfully.

"You're miles better than me, that's for sure. When did you learn to play?"

"Oh, uh, quite a long time ago. It's just a hobby. It's a…very long story."

Fox just chuckled. "Quite a long time ago, eh? Gives you a lot of time to improve and come up with your own stuff, eh?"

Rosalina blushed. "Oh, now you're flattering me. I'm just doing this for fun."

Fox chuckled. "No, I'm not. You're really good."

Rosalina smiled as she picked up her guitar case. "Well, thank you. Although I need to be back at the mansion soon, Peach insisted on having tea with all of us ladies. Would you like to join me on the way back?"

Fox shrugged. "Sure, I'll go with you. I've got nowhere to be right now."

* * *

As the two walked down the street, back towards Smash Mansion, Fox noticed something strange.

"I don't think I've ever seen you walk before. Don't you usually just float around?"

Rosalina smiled. "I do. But it would look strange for a random person to be levitating around, though, wouldn't it? It would just attract unnecessary attention."

Fox chuckled. "I guess it would."

Rosalina sighed. "It's nice to have some time for myself every now and again. I love my Lumas, but sometimes it's good to get away for a little."

"Who is looking after them right now?" asked Fox.

"Polari is," said Rosalina. "He's such a sweetie. He's been with me for…oh! Has it really been 350 years already?"

"350 years, now?" asked Fox. "That's a long time!"

"I don't know how I did without him for almost 150 years!" said Rosalina.

Fox just rolled his eyes. "150 years? Just casually does without her right hand Luma for 150 years. Yeah, no problem!"

Rosalina laughed. "I guess it does sound ridiculous when you put it like that."

"Is that a long time for you?" asked Fox. "Just curious."

"I…suppose that it is. It is but it's not. Time just…seems to stretch on. If that makes sense."

"Yeah, I don't relate to that, sorry," said Fox.

Rosalina just laughed. "I suppose you don't. Most people don't, you know."

"Yeah," said Fox. "I can imagine."

There was a pause in the conversation. After a few minutes, Fox asked, "Hey, you never told me how you learned to play the guitar! How'd that happen?"

Rosalina smiled. "Well, I suppose we have time for one story on the way back. So, it all started when Polari insisted on me taking a vacation from the observatory."

"A vacation?" said Fox, surprised.

"Oh yes. Quite frankly, I didn't know what to do with myself, when he first suggested the idea!"

"Really?" asked Fox. "You didn't take a single day off for 150 years?! How'd you manage that?"

"Oh, I took breaks from working, but I hardly ever left the observatory once I had built it. I was… less confident back then."

Fox nodded.

"But I still remember that day Polari insisted that I take a vacation. He pushed me in a warp star and fired it at a random planet! He was so intent on making me take that vacation!"

"Seriously? Polari did that?" asked Fox.

"Uh huh. He said that I was overworking myself and that I had 7 days to find a souvenir for him."

"How'd that go?"

"Horribly. For one, I was away for just over three years."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "Three years? How'd that happen? Couldn't you just fly back?"

"Well, due to overworking myself, my fine control of my powers had slipped to the point where I couldn't levitate for more than a few minutes. More importantly, I also couldn't form a warp star without a lot of strain, much less launch myself."

"How'd you overwork yourself that much?" asked Fox.

"I wore myself out trying to rebuild my Observatory after a run in with an asteroid," said Rosalina, recalling fond memories. "I had the shield down while I was working in the engine room. A stray asteroid ended up smashing straight through both my kitchen and my library. As you could imagine, the damage was extensive. I started repairs right away, once I finished fishing all my books, cutlery and cookware out of deep space."

Fox chuckled. "How long did that take?"

"Oh, just over three weeks."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "That takes dedication."

"Oh, quite so. There were some important books that I nearly lost. And my favorite spatula. But anyway, I then had the _genius_ idea of building my library and kitchen back bigger and better than they were before. Obviously, it was biting off more than one woman could chew, but I was determined to get it done. Ah, the optimism of youth," said Rosalina, her eyes glimmering with nostalgia.

Fox just snorted under his breath, as Rosalina continued.

"By the time I finished, I was so exhausted that I didn't leave my bedroom for two weeks straight. Then, I tried to get back to business as usual, but I was still worn out from all of the building. And that's why Polari forced me to take a vacation."

"But why didn't he come pick you up?" asked Fox. "It wouldn't have taken him more then a few hours to find you, right?"

"Ah, that was the catch. Turns out I'd never taught him how to fly the Comet Observatory. It took him nearly a year to learn how to fly the observatory while they drifted aimlessly through space. Apparently, they had a few close calls from drifting dangerously close to stars and asteroid belts. Then, once he'd gotten proper control of the Comet Observatory, he had to go back and figure out which planet he'd randomly fired me at," chuckled Rosalina. "I had to live on my own for a while."

"How did that go?"

"Thankfully, Polari sent me to an inhabited planet. Concordia, actually. The one Vaughn and Isabelle are from?"

Fox nodded. The Crossing Village Mayor himself, Vaughn, and his assistant Isabelle had both been invaluable additions to the Smashers. Fox had been to Concordia on a couple of occasions on Smasher missions. It was a far cry from the tightly packed yet sprawling metropolis of Corneria City that he was used to, covered with mile upon mile of undeveloped wilderness in between major towns. He'd never seen so much open space on an inhabited planet in his life. Honestly, he was surprised that more criminals didn't attempt to hide out there, as the amount of uninhabited areas with nobody around for miles was absolutely immense.

"I landed in the middle of a forest, so it took me some time to find a village, but I eventually found one. It was called Lakeview Village. The villagers were all so welcoming. When they learned that I had nowhere to go, they took me in and offered me a place with them."

"What did you do?"

"I became a farmhand. In exchange for food, board and a small paycheck, I worked on a farm."

Fox paused. "I honestly can't imagine you as a farmhand!"

Rosalina laughed. "Ah. It was quite the experience, let me tell you!"

"What was it like? To be a farmhand on a rural farm?" asked Fox.

"Hard work. Even though I'd been building two rooms by myself, I had still been using my powers to do the heavy lifting. Having to do everything by hand was absolutely exhausting," chuckled Rosalina. "But I managed. You guys would have never recognized me in a plaid shirt, overalls, work boots and a straw hat!"

Fox grinned, "You're right. I almost didn't recognize you in that getup you're wearing now!"

Rosalina smiled. "It was like being a different person. Well, I was a different person for those three years. Got to see life on the ground, with people. I wasn't just stuck in my observatory. It…really changed my perspective on things. It was also where I learned to play the guitar. One of the farmers taught me. We had a little band you know."

"You did?"

"Yup. One of the other farmers played the drums, one of the waitresses at the local restaurant sang and our bassist was one of the local ranchers. We had some good times, playing at weddings and festivals. We also played weekly at the local restaurant."

"You eventually left them, though?" asked Fox.

Rosalina nodded. "Yes. Eventually, Polari found me. My powers had returned, but I had become used to not using them. I had grown quite happy there. It was…a painful goodbye. But I've gone back to visit almost every year, ever since."

"For 300 years?"

"For 300 years."

There was a pause.

"You must have lost a lot of friends in that time," realized Fox.

"Yes, I have. But I have also made many as well. Such is my lot in life. I have made peace with it," said Rosalina with a smile. "Its why playing the guitar is so important to me. It helps me remember those people. Even if I've taken it down more of an indie rock path as of late."

There was a longer pause in the conversation as they kept walking.

"Well, I guess Polari never got that souvenir," said Fox eventually, breaking the silence.

"Actually, I did end up getting one for him."

"What did you get him?" asked Fox.

"A stick with two dead leaves. He was less then enthused," said Rosalina.

Both Fox and Rosalina burst out laughing at that.

"He deserved it, though! For shooting me off at a random planet while I couldn't fly!" said Rosalina. Composing herself a little, she said, "To be fair, I brought him better ones on later forced vacations."

They turned around a corner and saw the gate to Smash Mansion in front of them.

"So, what other adventures did you get up to on other forced vacations?" asked Fox, now curious.

Rosalina smiled. "While I would love to sit here and tell stories, unfortunately I do have that tea party to attend. However, I have it on good authority that the next story time with the little ones will be about a spacefaring heroine who went on many adventures to strange planets. It will be tomorrow at 4:00 pm in the fireplace room. It would also be very nice to have another adult or two present to keep the kids from getting too rowdy."

"Oh, really now?" said Fox.

Rosalina just smiled. With a laugh, red translucent orbs glowed around her hands, and she flew off the ground and up to a balcony on the third floor.

"See you there, Fox!"

Fox just shook his head. Then again, what did you expect out of somebody who had lived for over 500 years?

Fox checked his calendar on his phone and smiled. His afternoon was open. Now if only he could rope Falco into coming along…

* * *

**This was inspired by the indie rocker Rosalina artwork in the Super Mario Odyssey Artbook. I don't think I've seen any fics based off this idea, so I thought I'd make one – there's already too few Rosalina fics out there! Hope you all enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Well, now that finals are over, I'm back with another one! First of all, thank you to everyone who read, followed, and reviewed on the last one! This time, we've got Duck Hunt and Piranha Plant! For clarification, Duke is the dog, and Hunt is the duck. Captain N is an old Nintendo cartoon character who I thought would be a natural fit as Duck Hunt's owner, and is the "third man" of the Duck Hunt team.**

* * *

It was a warm, sunny summer day at Smash Mansion. The sun still beat down upon the mansion grounds even as it drew close to the horizon. In the sky, wispy clouds floated carefree, slowly making their way towards the edge of the sky.

In the mansion, Duke sniffed the ground as Hunt stood on his back, alert. He was on the trail. He smelled meat. Maybe there'd even be some bread for Hunt too!

Duke's nose was hovering close to the ground as he followed the trail. It had come from the garage and had gone through the hallways of Smash Mansion. He'd find this meat sooner or later. And then, he'd eat till he burst! No dry kibble for him or Hunt today!

The duck in question suddenly pecked him on the head. Duke didn't respond. He would find the meat. If only he could just track it down….

Duke bumped his head against something hard. He jumped back and barked, surprised. He looked up to see the strangest bush he'd ever seen. It was green like a plant, but it had a red head with white spots. It even had a mouth, just like him and Hunt. What a strange creature. Was it an oversized dandelion? Duke trotted forward and began sniffing it. It smelled just like…garlic? Was this plant that garlic grew on? If he bit it, would it spit out garlic?

Suddenly, the plant snapped at him, and Duke jumped back, surprised. He barked a few more times. He began sniffing again, not sure what he'd done wrong. It didn't smell dangerous…it was curious?

The plant seemed to sniff the air in front of it. Duke tilted his head. What was this strange plant trying to tell him? It would be so much more helpful if it used words, just like Captain N did.

Wait. This was just like how he'd made friends with Hunt. How'd he do that again?

Duke, crouching low, slowly shuffled up towards the strange plant.

The plant's stuck its head out, its nose nearly touching Duke's nose. The two sniffed at each other for nearly a minute. The plant didn't smell threatening, and it didn't look too aggressive now. Maybe they didn't have to fight?

After a moment, it straightened up a bit and waved its leaves animatedly, letting out scratchy sounding cries as it did. Duke sat up, wagging his tail. Did it want to be friends now? The plant jumped up and down, its pot making clanking noises as it hit the ground.

Hunt pecked him on the top of his head. Duke turned his head to look at his friend, who pointed at one of the doors with his beak. Duke perked up and saw Mario and Luigi walking with grocery bags past one of the doorways. A large baguette stuck out of one of them.

Duke gave the plant a look. The plant nodded. Duke nodded too. He turned back to the door and followed the scent of fresh bread.

* * *

A few minutes later, Duke was still hot on the trail. He was getting excited. They had to be close! He could practically taste the hamburger as his stomach growled. He sniffed the air again. The scent was still strong. His excitement grew as he came to the kitchen. He bounded in, ready to find the meat. But nobody was there. He stopped in his tracks a few feet inside the kitchen. He sniffed the air again. That was strange. The smell wasn't getting stronger here. He took a few tentative steps further into the kitchen. The smell was getting weaker. Duke whined quietly. What was wrong? This was where food was supposed to be, right? Had he lost the trail?

The plant hopped up to him and sniffed the air itself. It shook its head and hopped around the kitchen, sniffing the air. It eventually ended up back near the door. Suddenly, it jumped up and down, screeching. It began waving its leaves towards the door. Duke was confused. Why wouldn't the food be brought into the kitchen? Isn't this where Captain N said food should be eaten?

Duke shuffled to the door and began sniffing again. Sure enough, the scent was stronger. He barked excitedly. The scent trail was not lost after all! Hunt and the plant joined in, quacking and screeching respectively. Duke wagged his tail. This was how friendships worked! And with that, they were on the trail again.

* * *

After following the trail through the expansive halls of Smash Mansion, Duke stopped, having bumped his nose against an invisible barrier. He looked up to see a glass door. Out in front of him was the expansive backyard of the Smash Mansion. The scent of bread had nearly been overpowered by the wonderful scent of cooking meat! Duke was getting excited. Hunt was already reaching for the door handle, but the duck's beak was not enough to turn it. Duke stood up on his two hind legs and reached for the handle. He managed to pull it down but wasn't able to push the door open much. The plant hopped forward and nudged the door open with its head.

Duke shifted to the side as his paws hit the floor again, so as not to hit his new friend. They all hurried through the opened door before it slammed shut behind them. The plant turned around and jumped up and down again, screeching happily. It looked like the plant was just as excited as he was!

Duke took the opportunity to look around him. Wonderful smells wafted from all around him. He spotted a grill, where Luigi was cooking something. Duke shuffled up to Luigi, the plant in tow behind him. The plant now looked shy, like it was nervous to be around Luigi. Duke realized that it was time for him to take charge. He nudged Luigi's leg. Luigi looked down.

"Hey Duke! Hey Hunt! Did you make a new friend?"

Duke barked, wagging his tail. Of course he did! Did the green moustache man have no faith in him?

"I'll get you some meat and bread!" said Luigi. He grabbed a burger patty off the grill and crouched down to their level. The plant timidly sniffed the air in front of him, near Luigi. Duke wondered why the plant was so nervous around Luigi. The green man was nothing but kind and friendly! There was nothing to fear.

"Easy now, buddy, I don't bite!" said Luigi encouragingly. He held out a burger patty for the plant. After sniffing at the patty for a few moments, the plant gingerly reached out and grabbed it, holding it in his mouth.

Luigi smiled and turned back to the grill. He grabbed another patty, and held it out for Duke, while holding the burger bun a little higher for Hunt. Duke quickly grabbed the patty in his mouth. He glanced up to make sure Duke had his bun securely in his beak, before looking back to the plant. Duke barked through the patty in his mouth and took off into the yard. The plant screeched at him happily and followed him, bouncing along as usual.

Duke followed the sidewalk around the pool, where the smaller humans were splashing around, careful to not let his burger patty get wet. He trotted up to an empty beach chair and jumped on top of it. The plant bounced up to the chair and tried to jump up but couldn't quite jump on top of it.

Duke thought about this for a moment. It wouldn't be fair if the plant couldn't get up to the beach chair. Duke looked around. His eyes eventually fell on the nearby fire pit. More importantly, the bundle of wood next to it. Duke dropped his burger patty near Hunt and growled softly. Hunt quacked in response. He knew what to do. Duke trotted over to the bundle of wood and begun dragging it towards the chair. After a few minutes of haggling the bundle over the grass, Duke managed to get his bundle to the chair, where the plant and Hunt were waiting. Duke dragged the bundle of wood next to the chair. Duke barked and puffed his chest out. He'd built a set of stairs! All for his friend!

The plant screeched in delight, and wrapped its leaves around Duke, kind of like Captain N did sometimes. With that, they both hopped up the makeshift stairs onto the beach chair and sat down comfortably. Duke reclaimed his patty from under the vigilant beak of Hunt and sat down. Duke's chest swelled with happiness. He let out a lout bark. He'd done it! He'd gotten meat and a new friend!

"Quiet down!" yelled Captain N's voice from somewhere else.

Why though? He'd just made a friend! That was worth celebrating, wasn't it? Duke barked loudly again, just in case the first one wasn't good enough, and began wolfing down his food with Hunt and the plant. As he finished, he lay down on the chair. The plant hopped over to him and put its head down on Duke's back, and Hunt waddled up to his other side and sat down next to him. Duke let out a sigh of contentment. It was good to be with friends.

* * *

**This one was inspired by a conversation I saw on a Discord server about characters who don't speak and communicate through different means. It was an interesting concept that I tried to take to the logical extreme with two non-human characters who don't speak. It was quite the adventure to write this one!**

**Also, there is a new Super Smash Bros fanfiction and fanart Discord server that's been opened called Super Smash Prose! If this interests you, the Discord ID is gDK48ua.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! I'm back, and this time, I've got a double Christmas Upload! This oneshot is the first half of that double upload. Hope you all enjoy this one! **

**Finally, thank you to everyone who read, followed, and reviewed on the last one! **

* * *

The sun had barely poked its bright rays over the horizon. Falco was readying himself for the upcoming mission. Apparently, Space Pirates had been sighted near one of the moons of Koppai, so the Smashers had been asked to investigate. With only Fox, Samus and himself available to respond immediately, it was down to them to answer the call.

He had just finished his final combat checks on his Arwing, and was headed back to the kitchen for to grab some coffee for the road. He passed Fox's personal coffee maker as he made his way to one of the communal ones. The scent of Fox's favorite brew hit his nostrils. It was strong, bitter stuff, and not too bad after a dozen packets of sugar, quarter pitcher of cream and another half-liter of extra water. For this reason, Falco also drank his coffee out of a gallon thermos. Somehow, Mc Cloud could drink the stuff with no sugar, cream or extra water to dilute the powerfully bitter flavor, go straight to bed, and then proceed to sleep 12 hours. The major difference between them was that Fox's full thermos lasted him around two hours before he went back for a refill, whereas Falco's would last more like two days.

Fox also said that his father had loved that particular brew. Falco could attest to that. He'd…never known his parents. James McCloud had been the closest thing he'd ever had to a father, and Falco had spent a lot of time around the man before his untimely demise. Even in his absence, Fox and Slippy were like brothers to him and Peppy had been like an uncle. Star Fox was much like a family in that respect. All that being said, growing up in the orphanage had left its mark on him.

Falco walked up to his personal coffee maker, a few coffee makers down from Fox's. He poured the whole pot into his empty thermos, before turning back to the sink to get some water. He stopped suddenly as he nearly bumped into Lucas and the large cooler that he was filling.

"Gah! Gotta watch where you're going, kid!"

"Sorry, Mr. Falco!" said Lucas, standing aside and letting Falco fill his thermos with water.

"So, whatcha doing here, kid?" asked Falco as he turned off the water.

"Getting snacks for the road, Mr. Falco!"

"Oh, that's right. You guys are going with Rosalina for that training thingy Mario was setting up. Ya, uh, like the Lumas? They're pretty cute, right?"

"Yeah, they're nice. I just wish we were fighting with you guys, though," said Lucas.

"It's too dangerous for you guys. Don't worry, you'll get your chance when you're a few years older," said Falco.

It _was_ too dangerous. And anyway, who would intentionally bring kids with them to a literal battlefield? These kids were the future of the Super Smash Bros, for when he was too old to fly. Hopefully, that was a really long time coming for him. And anyway, he'd read Lucas's file. That kid was way too young for the stuff he'd already been through.

"I know," said Lucas. "It's just that I'm here to help and everything. And I've fought bad guys before too. I just want to be able to do something, that's all."

"Your heart's in the right place kid. Trust me, there will be plenty of time to help out," said Falco, trying to smile reassuringly.

"I've fought bad guys before! I can do it again!" said Lucas. "I fought during the Tabuu incident!"

Despite his age, Lucas had already saved his own world from impending danger before joining the Smashers, and alongside Ness, he'd even played a critical role in defeating Tabuu after being stranded deep behind enemy lines with the Ice Climbers, Diddy and Dixie Kong, Toon Link and Tetra. But that had been during the worst debacle in Smasher history. The Smashers had been less numerous, scattered, and reeling from a surprise attack from an enemy they didn't know existed. They had been fairly uncoordinated, as their tactical mastermind, Roy, had been seriously injured and knocked unconscious near the beginning of the whole mess. To make things worse, both Master Hand and Crazy Hand had gone missing. That had left Fox, Red, Marth and Game and Watch as the only veterans who had any tactical inclinations. Thankfully, between the strong bonds and trust between the veteran Smashers, the coordination of the Red's recently recruited fellow dexholders and the late, but well-timed arrival of Rosalina, Sonic, Mega Man and Pac Man they had just barely managed to save the day. It didn't change the fact that it was a very close call.

Since then, times had changed for the better. In the aftermath of the attack, Roy had woken up, took one look at the disaster, and promptly began writing what would become a 250 page document listing a wide array of contingency plans over the course of 72 hours before passing out again. Though the original version had been modified with input from nearly all of the Smashers, it had laid the foundation for the current set of contingency plans and responses that the Smashers utilized. They also had gone recruiting, nearly doubling their numbers so as to better respond to large scale events. Master Hand had even revived the old Wireframe fighter project, which eventually evolved into the android Mii Fighter Program. As things stood, there was no reason to bring any of the kid Smashers into danger. The Super Smash Bros had evolved.

"Listen, kid. I know you've kicked a lot of butt in your time, and you mean well, but this is a live mission. We don't want to be risking your safety out there. Haven't you had enough of that from that time you fought that fat kid trying to take over the world?"

"But I beat Pokey by myself! I fought Tabuu with you guys! So did Ness, and Popo, and everybody else! We can fight! All of us can!"

Falco sighed. "I know ya can, but it's a risk we don't need to take anymore. We honestly shouldn't have brought ya guys to the fights that we did in the past. Listen. Someday, you'll be in charge and calling the shots. So, we can't have anything happening to ya in the meantime, right?"

In the extensive list of reforms that Roy had introduced in the wake of the Tabuu incident, one was the designation of the younger Smashers as 'Junior Members'. This mean that none of them were active participants on any missions with serious stakes, mostly helping with civilian emergences, disaster relief missions and the like. They would also go on training missions to hone their skills, often with Rosalina on her observatory.

"I….can't just….let you guys go alone!" pleaded Lucas, tears forming in his eyes. "I have to go! What if somebody gets hurt? What if you get hurt? What if you get captured and….and…."

There was a pause as Lucas began to break down. Falco racked his brain for what might have set Lucas off. Suddenly, a thought came to him.

"Like your brother," said Falco.

Lucas only nodded, mute as tears flowed down his eyes. Falco didn't realize how much the kid cared. A lump formed in the back of his throat as he patted Lucas on the shoulder.

All right, how did he deal with this? He couldn't just pull out his phone and look something up. Lucas would notice him doing that _and_ it was kinda tacky. All right. Time to phrase that better – what would Krystal do? She was the only member of Star Fox who was any good at this kind of thing. Unfortunately, Falco had no idea what she'd do.

All right, better question, what would Peppy do? The old geezer had grandkids, surely he would know what to do, right?

"Uh, listen here, Lucas. You think your brother would want ya to be needlessly risking yourself out there?"

Lucas didn't say anything.

Falco continued. "How about your old man and your mum? Would they want you going into danger?"

"No…" said Lucas quietly.

"Listen kid. We'll be fine. Me and Fox go way back and we've beat Andross and all sorts of other nasties. Samus is one of the most powerful Smashers for a reason. You don't have to worry about us. I think your folks would want ya to stay safe and not take any unnecessary dangers. They care about ya a lot. Especially your old man. I don't think he'd take it too well if ya got hurt bad. Though I appreciate the concern, don't get me wrong. It's nice to know somebody cares."

"Really?" asked Lucas.

"Of course!" said Falco. "It would be pretty awful to go through all the stuff that we do and come back to find out that nobody cared that we saved the world!"

"I…guess that makes sense," said Lucas. "Thanks, Mr. Falco."

"No problem, kid. Tell ya what. If you're ever feeling down, you can come talk to me, if it helps."

"Really Mr. Falco?"

"Really. I'm here for ya. We're all here for ya. Though Rosalina or Mario or Red might be more helpful. But if they're not here, you can talk to me."

"Thanks, Mr. Falco!" said Lucas, cheering up. Suddenly, a look of panic crossed his face. "Oh, right! I've gotta finish getting all of the snacks together! See you later, Mr. Falco!"

He rushed off into the pantry. Falco cracked a grin as he watched Lucas rush off. He turned back to his coffee and reached for the creamer. That coffee wasn't going to make itself.

After a few minutes of peace and quiet, Falco heard the sound of many rushing feet near the kitchen door.

"Hey! Lucas!" shouted voice from the door. Falco stepped aside quickly, as Ness, Toon Link, Bowser Jr., Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Tetra and the Ice Climbers rushed past him.

"Did you get the chips and pretzels?" asked Ness, peering into the cooler.

"Yeah! And I got bananas and popcorn and cookies too!" said Lucas, still within the pantry.

"Did you forget the veggie chips again this time?" demanded Popo, trying to crowd his way to the cooler.

"Nope, he's got them," said Nana, peering into the cooler. "Ooh! Good call on the Tomato Soda!"

Ness gave her a look. "How do you even drink that stuff?"

"Don't worry!" said Lucas, running out of the pantry. "Got the lemonade too!"

"Nice one, dude!" said Ness.

"Hey, look!" said Bowser Jr. "We've got sunflower seeds! We're all set!"

"Awesome! You found the dried squid!" said Toon Link. "Wouldn't be an adventure without dried squid!"

"That's because I gave him proper instructions to find it," said Tetra. "Unlike somebody here!"

"Hey! I give better directions then you do!" yelped Toon Link.

"No, you don't!" retorted Tetra.

"Calm down! None of this will matter if we don't get this to the launch pad!" said Dixie.

"Aw crap! She's right!" said Popo. "C'mon! We need to get this thing moving before Murphy tries to give us Fitness Bread again!"

"He's not coming with us, dummy," said Nana.

"Remember how he switched out all of the bread with Fitness Bread last time?" asked Popo.

Nana's eyes widened. "Oh no….you're totally right…"

There was a general murmur of unease amongst the kid smashers as they realized the very real threat of possibly having to eat Fitness Bread again. Falco chuckled as they frantically began to try and figure out how they were going to drag the cooler to the hanger as he finished adding the last packet of sugar. He poured half of it in and dumped the rest in his mouth as he stirred the concoction. He took a sip. Just like he liked it.

Ness and Lucas began trying to levitate the cooler, as Popo and Nana wrapped their belays to the handle and began trying to pull it along with the others. Falco chuckled. As funny as it was to watch them, they weren't getting anywhere quickly with a cooler that heavy.

"All right kids. How about I help you get that cooler of yours to the launch pad."

"Really?" shouted Ness.

"Thanks, Falco!" yelled the Ice Climbers.

Falco smiled and grabbed the handle of the cooler and began wheeling it along. Sure, it was heavy, but it was better than having the munchkins try and drag it around. They'd probably break something. He began to walk down the hall, lugging the cooler as he went. The kid Smashers trooped behind him, happily chatting as they went.

After making their way through the halls, they finally reached the launch pad, where Rosalina was waiting.

"There you are," said Rosalina as Falco and the kid smashers walked up. "I was wondering what was taking you so long."

"We had to get the snacks!" said Ness.

She turned to Falco. "Thank you for taking the little ones here."

Falco said, "No problem. Somebody had to make sure they were on schedule!"

"Are you coming to the observatory with us?" asked Rosalina.

"Nah. I'm on mission to Koppai, remember?"

"Ah, that's right. I think Fox flew up to the Great Fox a little bit ago to make sure everything was ready," said Rosalina.

Falco's radio crackled to life. It was Fox.

"Hey Falco, buddy! Where are ya? We're up here waiting for you!"

"Hold your horses, had to make sure the kids didn't hold Rosalina up. I'll be there in a sec."

"Don't take too long! We've got a schedule to keep!"

"All right, all right. Be up there in five."

Falco deactivated his radio. "Gotta roll. Good luck out there."

"And you as well," said Rosalina.

"Bye Mr. Falco!" said Lucas, waving.

"Yeah! Kick those Space Pirate's butts!" cheered Ness.

Falco grinned. "Oh, if they're on Koppai, they're in for a beating! They just don't know it yet!"

And with that, he turned on his heel and began jogging towards the hangar. He smiled. Even if his childhood had been less then stellar, it warmed the cold, dark pit he called a heart to see others enjoy the opportunities he'd fought to make possible. He wasn't the heroic or charitable type at all, but it made the battles he'd seen worth it in a way.

His thoughts drifted back to his interaction with Lucas. That kid deserved better. And hopefully he'd contributed a little to that end.

"_Good luck little guy_."

* * *

**Lucas is often written as interacting with the other kid smashers or with various mentor figures in the Smash Fandom. Kinda wanted to see what could be done with Lucas interacting with a character who doesn't fall within either of those two categories. Hope it turned out well. **

**Don't forget to check out the second chapter of the Christmas double upload!**


	4. Chapter 4

**All right, this is the second part of the double Christmas Upload! This one's actually holiday themed – hooray! One thing to note before the chapter starts – four OCs will make very brief appearances in this chapter. These OCs are Packrat, Cordelia, Scrapper and Skylark. They'll receive proper introductions in due time, I just realized that they'd have to be mentioned here as they're the only ones who would actually know what Christmas is in my lore, as they're the only ones from Earth. Just know that they are Space Marine/Space Adventurer types for now.**

* * *

Olimar sat on a bench in the foyer of Smash Mansion, waiting. It was the day after the Super Smash Bros annual teambuilding event. It was a necessary part of being part of an intergalactic peacekeeping force, to make sure that all members were combat ready. Thankfully, he'd managed to escape being on active duty immediately afterwards, and he left for home tomorrow, leaving him with one day of opportunity to do as he pleased. It was nice, having everyone around. Most of the Smashers weren't leaving for another day or two. But Olimar had been looking forward to today. He had time to prepare. And this year, he'd be home for Holiday Week.

Holiday Week was created from a very interesting discovery during the first years of the Galactic Alliance. When the Hands, Chozo and Star Warriors founded the Galactic Alliance, they discovered that that all three cultures, consisting of different customs and holidays all celebrated major holidays during the standard week of December 24th to December 30th. As more peoples joined the joined the Galactic Alliance, more and more holidays began piling up. Hylian Founder's Day and Bannana Day of DK isle were on the 27th, and Elibian Thanksgiving and the Pokeanan New Years were on the 28th. Cornerian Independence Day was on the 24th, as was the Yoshi Island Fruit Festival, and Independence Day for the citizens of Outer Heaven. Even the most recent people to join the Galactic Alliance, the humans, had a holiday called Christmas on the 25th. But for Olimar, the most important holiday of them all was the Harvest Day, to celebrate the venerable and storied farming heartland of Hocotate. He couldn't wait to get back home to Pik Pik Carrot Pies and Baked Pik Pik Yams for dinner with all of the usual sides, with his beautiful wife and his two wonderful children sitting around the table.

Naturally, such a holiday themed week had developed a very strong commercial presence around itself. Olimar could attest to the numerous holiday themed advertisements that had permeated the TV, radio, newspaper, and bill boards of Harmony City. As such, Olimar had prepared for this excursion. After all, gifting presents was a time-honored tradition on Harvest Day, and the shopping heart of downtown Harmony City was the perfect place to pick up all manner of gifts.

His coat was buttoned up tightly over his exposure suit, his scarf was draped warmly around his neck, and his wallet was full and secured in his pocket. Hopefully it wouldn't be too empty by the time that he finished today. He'd even exchanged the helium cannister in his suit for a fresh one. All to ensure that today's cherished tradition would go smoothly. Well, tradition might be a bit of a stretch, as it had only gone on for the last three years. All the same, it was cherished, whatever it might be called, and Olimar intended to enjoy every minute of it.

Suddenly, a Koopa Clown Car pulled up in front of the mansion. Olimar pulled himself to his feet. His ride was here. Pushing open the door, Olimar walked out to see Bowser sitting in the driver's seat.

"Oli! You ready to spend a ton of cash on presents for the ungrateful brats that live in our houses?"

Olimar grinned. "You bet I'm ready!"

Bowser let out a mighty laugh. "BWAHAHAHAHA! That's the spirit! Let's get going! Those presents won't buy themselves!"

* * *

A few hours later, Olimar and Bowser found themselves in a large toy store, browsing the isles.

"Ah, hold up, Olimar!" said Bowser. "Lemmy's been asking for a bike. You mind if we take a quick look through these?"

"No problem!" said Olimar. "Actually, that's on my list too. It's a good place to stop!"

As he browsed through the bikes, Olimar reminisced on years past. When he'd been recruited into the Super Smash Bros, he hadn't expected to be called upon to save the universe a short four months later with a group of people he didn't know very well. After the Tabuu incident, he'd just felt lucky to still be alive. So, when he'd been in put on active duty near Holiday Week, he'd gone out by himself and bought his family the nicest gifts he could find for them while the holiday deals lasted. Just to see their smiles would be enough for him.

It on his way back to the mansion that he'd bumped into Bowser. As it turned out, he and the Koopa King had more in common then either had realized, chiefly, that they were both dads. Admittedly, Olimar was better off, despite not being royalty, as Bowser had lost his wife to an illness and had more children to look after. The koopa had been frantically rushing around, trying to make sure that he could still bring his children home presents they would like for the recently established Day of Peace. It was ironic that one of the signers of the Great Treaty of Peace between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Dark Lands had so little peace mere days before its annual celebration. Olimar had managed to calm down the frantic king and then proceeded to help him pick out gifts. Bowser was extremely grateful that day, but Olimar remembered it for other reasons. It was the day he'd made his first friend among the Smashers. They had made a little tradition of it and had gone out shopping for their families every year together ever since.

"Hey Oli! You think Lemmy would want this color or this color?" asked Bowser, holding two bikes, one in each hand. Olimar looked up. One was a vibrant shade of green while the other was a dark shade of blue.

"I say the blue one!" said Olimar.

He turned back to the bikes and settled on a silver one for his son and a light blue one for his daughter. He smiled. This was going to be a hit, he could just feel it. He carried the bike boxes over to where they'd parked their two carts and carefully placed them in the cart. Olimar looked over to Bowser, who was looking at a list.

"All right. Let's see. Got presents for Lemmy, Roy, Wendy, Ludwig, Morton, Larry, Iggy, aaand Junior! All right, I'm finished. How's your list looking?" said Bowser.

Olimar looked down at his own list. It looked like he was finished too. He had called his wife a few nights ago and the two had agreed upon what should be bought. With the bikes, he had gotten the last items. He slid the two boxes under his cart and looked happily at the modest pile of presents stacked there. His children would be so pleased. He turned to look at Bowser's cart. It was piled full of various toys for his kids. Thankfully it was balanced somewhat by the fact that Bowser was significantly richer then he was. Olimar had no idea how he'd manage with that many children on his salary.

"I'm done too. Shall we proceed to the checkout?" asked Olimar.

"Sounds like a plan!"

As they walked towards the registers, Bowser sighed.

"You know? I'm really glad we've had this little tradition for the last few years. It's nice, you know?"

Olimar nodded. "Absolutely!"

"Yeah. But it's nice to have friends around for the holidays. Adult conversation. You know. I love my kids to bits, but sometimes…."

Olimar nodded. "Of course. It must get tiring after a while only talking to kids."

"And the servants too! Can't have a decent conversation with any of them. They're all 'yes, sir', 'no sir' about everything! Its not like I'm gonna have them thrown in the dungeon or anything! Even when I was kidnapping Peach all the time, I didn't do anything like that to my servants!" complained Bowser.

Olimar smiled. "It is nice to be able to be able to enjoy a proper chat. Speaking of which, how did Ludwig's concert go?"

"It was a tremendous hit!" said Bowser, chest puffed out. "I was so proud of him!"

"That's wonderful!" said Olimar. "I'm so glad it went well! Hasn't he been writing that concerto for the last several months?"

"Yeah. He was working really hard on it for quite a while! I'm just glad it was received so well. Say, how have Robbie's robotics competitions been going?"

Olimar smiled at the mention of his son. "He's been doing pretty well! His team's had some issues, but they've been doing very well given the circumstances."

"Ah, can't guarantee that everything will go smoothly, I guess. Glad to hear that he's been doing well though. And Anna?"

"Still set on being a biologist like me," said Olimar with a laugh. "She reads my old Biology textbooks to the Pikmen at my house every single day."

"Really now? I wish I could get my kids that interested in science. Would do them some good. Still trying to get them interested in things that don't involve galactic domination," chuckled Bowser. "That one's my bad, though."

Olimar shrugged. "You're trying to fix your mistakes though. There's still hope for them yet."

"That's what I've been telling myself every day," Bowser sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Gonna sit my kids down and watch some movies this year. Make a mountain of popcorn. Try and make a few normal memories for the little tykes. How about you?"

"Gonna take them to the fair this year," said Olimar. "Always a fun place to go to."

Bowser nodded. "That does sound fun. We used to have those in the Dark Lands a long time ago. My great grandfather stopped them to help fund the war effort against the Mushroom Kingdom. I was hoping to try and get them going again. I just don't know if anybody remembers how their supposed to be done."

"It's worth a shot," said Olimar. "Could be a good way to really set in stone that you're not in the planetary domination business anymore."

"That's what I'm thinking," said Bowser.

"Sir! You're checking out, right?" asked the cashier.

Bowser looked up.

"Oh, right! Sorry about that! Uh, Olimar, you want to go first? You've got less. I've gotta take all of this out of my cart and it's gonna take a while."

Olimar looked at Bowser's heaping cart and then shifted his gaze his own moderately full one.

"I'll take you up on that."

* * *

Nearly hour later, Bowser and Olimar pulled into the garage of the mansion. They jumped out of the car and began to unload their parcels and bring them back to their quarters. Olimar took one last look around Bowser's trunk.

"I think that's it," said Bowser. "You got everything?"

"Yup, I've got everything!" said Olimar.

Bowser nodded and closed the trunk. The two turned and walked back inside. As they did, they stopped abruptly as some of the kid smashers rushed past them. Bowser Jr. stopped.

"Hey! Dad! They've got cookies for uh…what was it called again?"

"Christmas!" yelled Ness from the front of the kid smashers.

"Uh yeah! That! They're passing out cookies!"

"Really now?" asked Bowser. "I guess we'll have to swing by. Are you going there, Junior?"

"Yeah!" said Bowser Jr. "Hey! Why don't you come with us, Dad?"

Bowser smiled. "You know what? I think I'll come with you. What about you, Olimar?"

Olimar chuckled. "Ah, sure, I'll come!"

"Awesome!" shouted Bowser Jr. before he rushed off to catch up with the others.

Bowser smiled. "Ah, it's good to see that Junior's making friends. You know, Olimar, we need to get one of your kids in the Smashers too!"

Olimar smiled. "I'm afraid it might be quite a while before that happens. I don't think either Robbie or Anna will be Smasher material for quite a long while, if at all. Robbie's only 12!"

Bowser nodded. "I guess that's fair. Your oldest is much younger then my oldest."

They rounded a corner to see Samus wearing a red sweater with snowmen on it and a red hat with a white lining and tassel over her zero suit. She was sitting on a chair outside of the kitchen behind a table with plates full of cookies on them. The kids were already eating cookies. Ness, Popo, Toon Link and Tetra were already going back for seconds.

Olimar waved as they approached.

"Hey Samus!" said Bowser.

"Hey Bowser! Hey Olimar! You want some cookies?" said Samus.

"Don't mind if I do!" said Bowser, grabbing a few. Olimar carefully picked one up. He'd have to decontaminate it later so that he could eat it. Oxygen was poisonous after all. It looked delicious though.

"So, how's the Christmas thing going? It's the first year you're celebrating it, right?" asked Bowser.

"Interesting, gotta say," said Samus. "Its so different from all of the Chozo holidays. Its….more bombastic. They have lights and trees and there's even some lore behind it too. Apparently, there's this old guy with a sled pulled by deer who gives out free presents to good kids. Did you know, they have songs for this holiday?"

"Really?" asked Olimar.

"Yeah. Lots of them too. My favorite is…uh…the uh…Silver Bowls one."

"Silver Bells!" came a female voice from within the kitchen.

"Right. Thanks, Skylark!" called Samus.

"She likes Jingle Bell Rock too!" came a different female voice.

"Yeah, that's the other good one," said Samus. "By the way, Cordelia, we need more cookies! The kids just got here!"

"On the way!" said Cordelia.

"They got you on cookie duty?" asked Olimar.

"They're the ones baking the cookies. I'm just here to hand them out," said Samus. She turned back towards the kitchen door. "Bowser and Olimar are here! Say hello!"

"MERRY CHRISTMAS YA FILTHY ANIMALS!" came a yell from a male voice in the kitchen.

"AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!" yelled another male voice.

Bowser and Olimar looked at Samus, confused.

"It's a quote from a movie or something," said Samus with a shrug. "Packrat and Scrapper have been yelling it all day long."

"YIPPIE KI YAY!" Packrat and Scrapper yelled in unison.

"Another movie reference," explained Samus. "The Dying Hard one. We watched it last night. That one was really good. Better than the one with the cheap old guy and the three ghosts."

"Die Hard is _NOT_ a Christmas movie!" protested Skylark.

"YES, IT IS!" said Packrat and Scrapper in unison.

Skylark said something barely audible amid the clatter of pans and ovens. Samus just shrugged.

"I dunno. It's been really cool to be a part of this stuff. I never knew what human culture was like for so many years, and yet here we are. I've already learned a ton. But all the same, I've been raised Chozo. I dunno if I can just let it all go."

"You don't have to," said Olimar. "You're part of both, right? Not just one or the other."

Samus nodded. "I guess you're right. Hmm. I'll have to give that one some thought."

Bowser gave her a thumbs up. "Good old Samus. Anyway, we're gonna go drop our stuff off back at our rooms. Have fun!"

Olimar waved back at Samus as they made their way back to the rooms, leaving Samus to continue distributing cookies. Olimar smiled. That was the beauty of Holiday Week. So many holidays. There really was something for everybody.

* * *

Some time later, Olimar dropped his bags near the pod he resided in while at Smash Mansion. It was a closed system which mimicked the helium environment of his planet. He dropped all of his bags and his cookie in the decontaminator and started it up. It would take some time before the oxygen was properly disposed of and it would be safe for him to work with.

He reached into a small locker outside of his pod. He had one more thing he didn't want to forget about. Olimar grabbed a package from inside and went off to find Bowser's room.

* * *

Olimar found Bowser coming out of his room with a package in his hand.

"Hey, Olimar! What's up?"

"I got you something," said Olimar.

"Oh really? I got you something too!" said Bowser, holding up a box. They exchanged the packages.

Olimar looked it over. It was a box of fine Dark Lands Chocolates.

"Oh! Pik Pik Carrot Cakes!" exclaimed Bowser. "The kids are gonna love this! Thanks!"

Olimar smiled. "My wife loves these! Thank you so much!"

The Hocotacian pilot put the box down next to him and straightened his back as he looked up to his much larger friend, as Bowser put the box of cakes on a table just inside his room.

"Hey Bowser!" said Olimar. Bowser turned around, a quizzical look on his face.

He extended his hand.

"Happy Great Peace Day, Bowser!" said Olimar.

Bowser smiled and reached out to shake his hand. "Happy Harvest Festival, Olimar!"

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the holiday special! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: All right! We've got another chapter! First of all, thank you to everyone who read, followed, and reviewed on the last one! This time, we've got Link and Captain Falcon! One more thing I'd like to briefly mention is that new chapters for this fic are written when I have inspiration for something new. If you'd like to see a particular character in this, that's wonderful, but please realize that I may not have the inspiration for a chapter featuring that character at the moment. That being said, I would like to eventually feature every single character at some point. With that out of the way, let's get started!**

* * *

It was a rainy day at Smash Mansion. Not a light misting or a scattered shower, but a steady, continuous rain that quickly drenched any who dared to venture forth without an umbrella. Not that anyone really wanted to, as the sky was engulfed with a gloomy blanket of grey clouds. Most of the Smashers were indoors, doing indoor things. Peach, Palutena, Sheik and Rosalina were watching soap operas in the media room. The kid smashers were playing video games and Mario and Luigi were down in the gym sparring with the other fist fighters in a round robin tournament. Ike had challenged Cloud to a friendly duel out of boredom and several of the other sword users had gone to watch.

Link had not gone with them. A rainy day was a chance for him to enjoy another aspect of the outdoors. Which was why he was sitting on the back porch of the mansion under the balcony as the rain pattered just a few inches from his feet. Thankfully a few of the lawn chairs had been left out of the weather, and a warm mug of tea sat next to him on the ground, its fragrant scent mixing with the smell of the wet grass and fresh rain. It was a nice warming drink to counterbalance the chill of the damp breeze. Faintly, he could hear the wind chimes from Palutena's balcony.

The scene in front of him was a thoroughly drenched one. The umbrellas and other beach chairs were all dripping wet as more precipitation continued to fall. The brick pavement of the patio was a few shades darker than usual and somewhat slick, though the drainage system was successfully preventing any puddles from forming. The raindrops splashed as they hit the water in the pool, sending small droplets into the air, a mix of chlorinated pool water and fresh rainwater.

Link turned back to his bow, on which he'd been performing maintenance. He was almost done. He reached for the new bowstring, and with one swift motion, strung it. He looked over his bow, satisfied with his work. It was a Rito made bow, a gift from his friend Teba. It hadn't failed him yet, and Link had intended to keep it that way. He made his way back to the door and stepped inside to carefully lean his bow against the wall. There was no need to get his weapon wet. Link turned around, resumed his place in the lawn chair and took a deep sigh of contentment.

Some people disliked the rain. It was cold and wet. It prevented people from going outside and doing things. It was a general nuisance. Link begged to differ. The rain reminded him of his home, in Ordon Village. It rained fairly regularly throughout all of the seasons there. For the people of Ordon Village and the residents of the Ordon Province at large, the rain wasn't an obstacle or nuisance. It was merely a part of life. Rain or no rain, life carried on. Link supposed that was why the rain reminded him of the cow and sheep pens he used to take care of, so many years ago. It reminded him of the endless trees of Ordon Forest and the fishing hole near his house. Of Zora's Domain, of Rito's Village and of Hyrule castle. Of…Zelda. Of Sheik. Of course, those memories were all from different places and different times. But the same feeling ran through all of the memories. All was right in the world when it rained. Everything felt more real when it rained.

The door opened behind him.

"Oh! Link! Fancy seeing you here!" boomed a friendly voice.

"Falcon! I thought you went down to that sparring match with Mario and Ryu," said Link.

"Yeah, I did. Mario won by the way. Some of the others are going at it now. Thought I'd catch some fresh air for a while. Mind if I join you?"

Link gestured to another one of the chairs. Falcon walked over to one of the chairs and sat down.

"Ahh, still raining," said Falcon. "I guess that's a good thing by your standards."

Link smiled. "It is."

"Figures. Anyway, how's it been going in Hyrule?" asked Falcon.

"Not bad," shrugged Link. "Not too much on my end. There were two reports of corrupted Guardians deep way on the fringes of Hyrule a few months back. Took me a while to track them down. How about you?"

"Racing. Tracking down bad guys. There was a group of them who were escaped bank robbers who were already planning their next scheme. Caught up to them while they were trying to get a bank vault door open. You would not believe these guys. I snuck up behind them and stood there with my arms crossed for at least 20 minutes."

Link chuckled. "You'd think bank robbers would have better situational awareness."

"I thought so too," said Falcon. "I sent the cops a holler that I'd found the robbers. They were still trying to break open the door when the cops rolled up."

"A peaceful mission for once?"

"Actually, one of them tried attacking me."

Link raised an eyebrow.

"Took him out with a single regular punch. Knocked him out cold. His buddies surrendered immediately after that," said Falcon.

Link nodded. "Business as usual, then."

"Yup. Good payout too, if I might add. The Federation doesn't like bank robbers, that's for sure. Suits me just fine."

The two sat in comfortable silence for some time as Link drained his cup of tea and the rain pattered on the roof. Link and Falcon had been friends ever since Master Hand had recruited them for the very first mission taken on by the Smashers. They were an unlikely duo, due to Falcon's brash and confident manner and Link's quiet and unassuming manner. The two had bonded over their shared love of sparring. Being two of the most combat focused fighters of the original Twelve Smashers, they had spent many hours duking it out, honing their skills.

It was an interesting dichotomy that the two had, made all the more prominent by the fact that they were considered to be two of the most powerful smashers. It was a battle that had played out in the sparring arena time and time again. Falcon's pure physical strength, speed and power against Link's arsenal, versatility and wide skillset. Falcon had trained his hand to hand fighting style to such a high degree that he had little difficulty fighting against weapon users. Though he always brought a shield, Link caught the business end of a Falcon Punch or Falcon Kick on a somewhat regular basis during spars, a testament to Falcon's skill. Link, to contrast this, was the jack of all trades, master of a few. Packing an imposing arsenal in his Fairy Pouch, Link could utilize the contents of the pouch to great effect, giving him some sort of advantage is nearly any situation. To top it all off, Link also had trained in several different fighting styles, including Hylian swordsmanship, Zora spearmanship, Rito aerial archery, Gerudo sand seal jousting and Goron wrestling. The wrestling techniques in particular had caught Falcon out more times than the flashy Captain cared to admit.

After some time, Falcon broke the silence.

"Rain brings back memories, doesn't it?"

Link nodded.

Falcon smiled and continued. "Brings back memories of the good old days."

"Bounty hunting?" asked Link.

"Yeah. Bounty hunting," said Captain Falcon

Link raised an eyebrow. "Nostalgia getting to you?"

Captain Falcon sighed. "I guess. Ah, it was so much different than it is now. I had just gotten out of the Navy back then, and I was trying to make my way in the world. I was so much more arrogant and hotheaded back then. Always getting into fights. Hah! What I joke I used to be," said Falcon with a bemused laugh.

"Then what happened? Jody?" asked Link.

"Actually, Black Shadow happened. I met Jody after that. She was important too. But Black Shadow happened first. I've told you that one, right? My first fight with Black Shadow?"

"Yeah," said Link. "Almost got you killed, but you managed to pull a win, right? You faked him out with a fake Falcon Punch, landed a Falcon Kick to his legs, and then you got him with a real Falcon Punch."

Falcon smiled. "Yup. They took him to the emergency room before they took him to prison. I mean, they took me to the emergency room too, but still, he definitely got the worst of that fight."

"And that's why he hates your guts so much."

"Oh, you bet he does. You wouldn't think it from a guy like him, but Black Shadow writes poetry. It's pretty interesting coming from a criminal mastermind. Some of it has artistic value, like the one on the philosophical value of waterfalls. The rest of it's how he's going to destroy his enemies. Probably directed at me."

Link nodded. "Reminds me of Ganondorf."

"Ah, Ganondorf. How's his nose doing?"

"Still crooked. He's gonna need plastic surgery if he wants it straightened."

Falcon laughed. "Ah. That ranks as one of my all-time favorite Falcon Punches. Just the look on his face before my punch landed was priceless!"

Link smiled, fondly remembering the second time that Master Hand had rallied them. Ganondorf had decided to try his hand at conquering the galaxy at large instead of just Hyrule. Link was thankful that he hadn't had to fight him alone, again. They had managed to catch Ganondorf before he had fully completed his plan. This had led to a confrontation between himself and Ganondorf, transformed into Dark Beast Ganon. Backed by Young Link, Sheik, Mario, Marth, Fox, Falco and Captain Falcon, they had engaged the stolen Subspace Core powered monster in battle. While the others brought down Ganondorf's army of minions, Link had managed to hold Ganondorf's attention long enough in the melee for Falcon to sneak up on the monster and blindside him with a well-placed Falcon Punch to the face before he could react. That moment was also one of Link's favorite memories, just in general.

"In other news, Toon Link and Tetra found some new island. I think they named it Two Heroes Island or something in honor of themselves," said Link, changing the topic.

"Ah, gotta love naming conventions. Doesn't have a name, so might as well name it after yourself," said Falcon.

"Yeah. Apparently, they're planning to build some secret base there. The island is half a kilometer long, for crying out loud. I even saw the plans. The real question, ignoring transportation of materials, is if the island is big enough for their secret base plans. It's supposed to have a vault for their treasures, twenty rooms, a hot tub, full utilities, and eight freezers just for ice cream. You know. Because 9 freezers for ice cream is excessive."

Falcon just laughed. "I wonder how much of that treasure they're going to have to part with to make the base."

"I know," said Link. "I mean, I have my own little stashes of supplies around Hyrule. None of them have 8 freezers for ice cream. You know how many rupees that's saved me?"

"Yeah, but knowing you, your stashes are literally a small hole in a wall or a hollow tree trunk with one of those fairy pouches of yours in hidden in it," said Falcon.

Link shrugged. "Guilty as charged."

Falcon continued, "You're the embodiment of practicality. Haven't you chopped vegetables with the Master Sword of all things before?"

"I mean, I don't have to bring an extra knife for stuff like that, so it works," said Link. "C'mon! The moblin guts add flavor! Puts hair on your chest!"

Falcon just rolled his eyes. "You couldn't even sell that as a Hylian delicacy!"

"Not me, but maybe Zelda could?" said Link with an impish grin on his face. "Diplomacy and all that rot! She'd be great for that!"

Falcon scoffed. "And I thought you were the pessimist of the two of us."

"I am the pessimist. You'd try to sell it yourself. I can see the brand name now. 'Captain Falcon's Gourmet Foods', now with Hylian Flavoring!"

The two burst out laughing at that.

"I would do that, wouldn't I?" chortled Falcon.

Falcon sat up a little. "You know? I think that we should go challenge the guys to some doubles. Since there's a bunch of people in the training rooms right now, we should have enough people for a bunch of proper two vs two battles."

Link shrugged. "I'm game."

"We should have some good fights!" said Falcon with excitement. "Mario and Luigi, Ryu and Ken, Sheik and Corrinne, Kirby and Meta Knight, and Simon and Richter all put up really good fights last time, right?"

Link shrugged. "I'm good as long as we're not sparring against any of the Pokemon trainers,"

Falcon paused, his face going slightly pale. "Uh, yeah. Those guys were born to fight doubles. Seriously, the strategies they have are unreal! And the combo moves they've got too!"

Link nodded in agreement. "Glad we're only on the receiving end when we're training."

"They train to fight in pairs, don't they?" asked Falcon.

"I think so. I think they also train to fight all together as well."

"Really? No wonder they're so coordinated!" said Falcon, impressed. "Wait a second. I knew that. They were practicing their ultimate finisher move yesterday, were you here for that?"

"No, what did they do?" asked Link.

"It was crazy!" said Falcon. "They had…uh what was it….uh Mega Evolution, Gigamax, Combo Z-Move thingie?"

"Wait, the one where the Pokémon turns super big?" asked Link.

"Yeah! Except with the extra mega evolution thing at the same time. And while they were doing that, they did some combo attack with a bunch of those super powerful Z-move things," said Falcon. "They nearly destroyed the bomb range! I really need to start stepping up my game!"

Link snorted. "Of course you'd say that. Gotta remember, it's not all about massive power attacks!"

"It is for me!" protested Falcon. "What are my best moves? The Falcon Punch and Blue Falcon Punch!"

"Instead of punching somebody with a flaming Falcon around your fist, your most powerful move is to punch somebody with a flaming car around your fist instead," deadpanned Link. "Real original."

"Hey! The Blue Falcon Punch is in the shape of _my_ car! You don't beat the Blue Falcon!"

Link just snorted good naturedly. It was fun to pull Falcon's leg like that.

"Anyway, at least I have a power move! What do you have?"

"A slingshot," grinned Link without skipping a beat. "Finest slingshot in all of Hyrule."

Falcon rolled his eyes. "Hmm….Falcon Punch vs Slingshot. A high-level application of one's powers that has been known to take down extraordinarily powerful villains versus a child's toy meant to shoot pumpkin seeds in a straight-ish arc…..hmm…I wonder which one would win?"

"The slingshot for sure," said Link. "It lets me use all sorts of powerful attacks!"

Falcon snorted. "Sure, powerful attacks. Just like the one where you hold your sword out, spin in circles and scream as loud as you can!"

They both cracked up at that.

"That's the best description of the Spin Attack that I've ever heard!" wheezed Link.

"Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week!" chuckled Falcon.

After they finished laughing, Falcon stood up.

"Anyway, you ready to beat the tar out of the others?"

Link pulled himself to his feet. "Let's get 'em!"

Falcon quickly turned on his heel and walked indoors. Link turned to pick up his now empty cup of tea. He took a long look around the backyard of Smash Mansion. It was so peaceful as the rain drummed down on Smash Mansion. He took one more deep breath, savoring the peace and calm for one last moment.

"C'mon, Link! Whatcha waiting for?" asked Falcon from the doorway.

Link turned on his heel. "Nothing. Just got distracted for a second. Let's go!"

* * *

**This one was inspired by a week of rainy days near me. I enjoy the rain (other than having to drive too much in it) and thought I'd try and turn that into something. Hope it turned out well!**

**Also, there is a new Super Smash Bros fanfiction and fanart Discord server that's been opened called Super Smash Prose! If this interests you, the Discord ID is gDK48ua.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: All right! We've got another chapter! But wait! There's actually two! That's right, we've got another double upload! **

**Thank you to everyone who read, followed, and reviewed on the last chapter! This time, we've got Yoshi and Wario!  
**

* * *

Yoshi peered over the edge of a wheelbarrow as he pushed it down the halls of Smash Mansion. It was a brand-new wheelbarrow, thankfully, he would otherwise have had to arrange for other means of transporting it to its destination. He slowly trundled down the halls at an even pace. Inside the wheelbarrow, various tools that he'd bought clanked together.

As he pushed the wheelbarrow down the hallway, Yoshi turned to see if the wheel was leaving a trail. Thankfully, all he could see was a single depressed line where the wheel had rolled with no stains on the carpet.

He looked down into the wheelbarrow. Two trowels, work gloves, pruning shears and a few large buckets jingled together as he rolled down the hallway.

Suddenly, he bumped into something large. His wheelbarrow fell to the ground, and Yoshi jumped back in surprise.

"Gah! Watch where you're going!" said a heavy voice.

"Wario! I'm so sorry! Are you all right?" exclaimed Yoshi.

"Wah, I'm fine. Where are you going with a wheelbarrow inside? Don't tell me we're gonna have to pay to get the carpets cleaned!" said Wario as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Oh no! This is a new wheelbarrel!" said Yoshi. "The tire is clean! I just had to get this wheelbarrow down to the basement garden somehow!" said Yoshi. He wheeled his wheelbarrow around Wario.

"What? Garden basement? What are you talking about?" asked Wario, walking in pace with Yoshi to keep up.

Yoshi pulled a Dash Pepper out of his pocket as he walked.

"Where do you think I get these from?"

"Wah! Don't those things grow on alien planets? How'd you get some here? Those things could sell for big money!"

"The garden basement. The underground greenhouse? You know, the one in the third basement?

"Really? I didn't know we had that!" said Wario.

"It helps to pay attention you know. Everybody got the tour of the mansion. You must have seen it at least once," said Yoshi.

"Yeah, maybe?" said Wario. "It's-a been a while since I got the tour. Remind me again?"

Yoshi sighed. "It's the basement floor with contained environment pods designed to mimic the home planets of various plants so we can grow them. Think of the powerup plants that I use, like the Blimp Fruit and Bulb Fruit. It helps to be able to grow your own."

"Huh, really?" said Wario, rubbing his chin. "You think I can reserve some space to grow some of my garlic? Since I use that to go into Wario Man mode?"

"I don't see why not," shrugged Yoshi. "There are a few open pods next to Mario and Luigi's mushroom and flower pods. Just make sure not to enter Olimar's Pikmen plots, he's really sensitive about keeping them safe."

"Huh. Gotcha. Who do I ask? How much does it cost?" asked Wario.

Yoshi gave him a sideways look. "It's a feature of Smash Mansion. It doesn't cost anything. And you ask Fox. He's in charge of it."

"McCloud? Since when did he get a green thumb?"

Yoshi chuckled, "He never had one. He volunteered to be in charge when Master Hand finished the Mansion. He wanted to grow fresh coffee beans."

"Sounds like him. Does he have a lot of plots to himself?"

"No, he's just got one that he got a few months ago. Though he's been maintaining them since it was built since he's good with the machinery."

"Eh? Why not?"

Yoshi grinned as he continued to walk.

"So, Fox wanted to be able to grow his own coffee beans, right? But nobody believed that he could take care of anything green. So, Peach decides to make him pass a test to prove that he could take care of plants. She got him a cactus and said that if he could keep it alive for 3 months, she would let him have a pod to grow coffee beans."

"3 months? How'd that go?" asked Wario. "How come I don't remember this?"

"It happened just after the Ganondorf incident. Just before you joined us," said Yoshi.

"Ah, right. So, what happened?" asked Wario.

"The cactus died because Fox only ever watered it with coffee. Something about cacti liking acidic soil, and coffee being acidic, so it would like coffee as much as he does or something."

Wario burst out laughing. "Wahahahahaaaaa… that's great! I'm gonna have to rub it in his face when I see him next….."

"Yeah. Anyway, he runs the environment pods, but it was only the mechanical end of things for the longest time. Since he's good with that kinda stuff. We gave him a plot after he finished a gardening course Peach made for him."

"Really?" asked Wario. "Am I going to need to take this gardening course too?"

"Probably not. Peach only made it because Fox was so bad at gardening."

"So Peach is pretty good?"

"She's really good. She makes cakes with the strawberries that she grows down here!"

"Oh really?" asked Wario.

"Yeah, that's why they taste so fresh," said Yoshi. "This isn't just for powerups and stuff. I mean, that's what it is supposed to be here for, but it's totally fine to just grow just about anything down here. The Pokemon Trainers grow berries down here for their Pokemon. All free."

"Wah, that's pretty great! Free is the best price there is, you know! Can you take me down there so I can pick out a spot? I'll have garlic forever!" said Wario excitedly.

Yoshi smiled. "Sure! No problem!"

Sure, Wario wasn't the nicest person to be around, and many of the Smashers were less than thrilled about his presence. But Yoshi believed in treating everybody well, even if they didn't deserve it. It was a strategy that often required more effort from him overall, but it had yet to fail him. And anyway, Wario being in a good mood was a blessing to be sure. Things tended to get ugly when he was in a bad mood.

Yoshi stopped in front of a large elevator in the middle of one of the hallways and slapped the button to open the door. The doors slid open and he maneuvered his wheelbarrow in, as Wario followed. Yoshi punched the third basement floor button and waited for the doors to close.

Wario glanced into the wheelbarrow that Yoshi had, and inspected the tools that were in it.

"What's up with the tools being so small? Don't you need a bigger shovel then that?"

"Uh? Oh, my trowel and hand shears will be big enough. We grow things in boxes. So, we put dirt in the box or the pot and grow it in conditions that match it's home."

Wario gave him a confused look.

"You know what, I'll just show you when we get down there. A picture is worth a thousand words."

The two stood in silence for a minute as the elevator began travelling downwards.

"So, uh, how's your island been doing?" said Wario.

That was strange. Wario wasn't known for small talk. Nevertheless, Yoshi chose to oblige him.

"Oh, it's been going well! I've planted several new rows of fruit trees in my yard. They won't produce any fruit for a few years, but they'll pay off in the long run," said Yoshi.

"Fruit trees? That's good! Very good!" said Wario. "Wario Ware has also been doing pretty good! Sales have been up by 12%!"

Yoshi nodded amicably. "That's fantastic!"

The two fell into an awkward silence.

Thankfully, a few moments later, the elevator's doors opened, revealing a large, dimly lit hallway. On the right was a solid wall with several doors. Each had a label. One was for ammo storage, one was for sword maintenance supplies, while a third was storage for surplus gym equipment. On the left was a long piece of glass, looking into a similarly dimly lit room. Yoshi walked up to the door, punched in the pass code, and walked in, with Wario in tow.

In the room were brightly lit pods, sectioned off with glass with various plants growing in them. Each room had a computer interface and a locker next to the door. Yoshi parked his wheelbarrow near one as Wario inspected his surroundings.

"Huh, quiet place."

"Yeah, you don't tend to get too many smashers down here," said Yoshi.

He pointed to one of the pods. It had a multitude of Pikmen sprouts growing in several pots, boxes, and containers of several different descriptions. Several of the containers were large wooden boxes, all filled with soil. Others were ceramic jars with a smattering of large plastic containers arranged around them. All were filled soil and had various Pikmen sprouts growing in them.

"That one is Olimar's. He grows his Pikmen in there under particular conditions, so they grow faster."

"Huh, neat!" said Wario, walking up to the glass and observing the inside. "Oh, I see whatcha meant by growing stuff in boxes. Pretty nifty. I take its cheaper than having a regular farm?"

"Yeah. This style allows us to save space since we don't have to have to set aside large amounts of land to grow stuff. Especially since we are growing for individual needs not on an industrial level."

"Huh. That's pretty useful then!" said Wario.

"And this one's mine!" said Yoshi, standing in front of the pod where he'd parked his wheelbarrow. Inside were a number of plants arranged in three rows. In front of each row was a sign with a picture of the powerup fruit being grown in that row of plants. "I grow my powerups here. Since they're from alien planets, I adjust the atmosphere and gravity to suit their needs as best as I can. That row is for Dash Peppers, that one's for Blimp Fruit and that one's for Bulb Fruit."

"Wah! That's pretty nifty!" said Wario in surprise.

"It most certainly is," said Yoshi, pointing to a control panel on the side. "Fox will show you the ins and outs of the control panel, but it lets you control temperature, atmosphere, humidity, gravity and more!"

"Really now?" said Wario, rubbing his hands. "How much does it speed up the growth time?"

"I know that Red has tripled the speed that he can grow berries," grinned Yoshi. "He's got it down to the point where he can harvest berries year-round. And I've managed to halve the time it takes my powerups to grow. You just need to do a little research and mess around with the settings a bit."

"Really now?" said Wario, grinning and rubbing his hands together. "Imagine that! Fresh garlic, all year round!"

"But there's more!" said Yoshi, grinning back.

"There's more?" asked Wario.

"Follow me," said Yoshi.

Yoshi sauntered up to one of the walls. It had a mixing device mounted to it, with a chute going in and a chute coming out. It stood next to a door that was closed. Yoshi walked up to the door and opened it. Inside were several composters.

"Wah! That stinks!" said Wario.

"That's because it's our composter room. It's where we get our soil." Closing the door, Yoshi turned to the machine.

"This is the soil mixer. You can add custom things to your soil if it requires it. For instance, I had to add some sand to the soil of my Dash Peppers to get them to grow better, since it grows in sandy soil on its home planet."

"Wahahaha! This is gonna be great," said Wario with delight. He paused. "Wait, I gotta bring my own tools though, right?"

"Yeah," said Yoshi. "That's the one thing. You noticed the lockers next to the environment pods? That's where you keep your tools."

"Ah. They get you eventually. Small price to pay for endless garlic, though," said Wario, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Good investment, I'd say."

"You bet it's a good investment," said Yoshi with a smile.

"Well, this is a great find!" said Wario. "Thanks, buddy!"

Yoshi nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise. What was going on? Wario was never this nice to anyone!

"Buddy?"

"Yeah! You're one of the ones who doesn't treat Waluigi and me like crap! That counts for something, pal!" said Wario with a grin.

Yoshi was stunned for a second. It was well known that most people didn't treat Wario and Waluigi particularly well. While some of the Smashers were friendly enough, most just avoided them.

But Wario…considered him a friend? Yoshi just tried to treat everybody nicely. Everybody deserved to be treated well! But was Wario being friendly just because he had saved him money? Wario's greed was legendary after all. Eh, it was just easier to roll with it.

He straightened his back and smiled. "No problem!"

"Hey, before I go, it's McCloud I talk to, right?" said Wario.

"Yeah, you talk to Fox."

"Well, I'm off to find him then! See you around, Yoshi!"

Wario quickly turned and shuffled off towards the elevator.

Yoshi waved. That had been a bit strange. But there was something to be said for having more friends. Even if a few of them were as unreliable as Wario tended to be.

And you know what? He'd take it.

* * *

**I was ******kinda ** glad to be able to tie this in with a location in Smash Mansion, as my version of Smash Mansion is a bit different from the traditional idea of Smash Mansion and this allows me to start fleshing out the building. There's going to be more interesting things in the other basement levels and odd corners of Smash Mansion that will appear in the future, so you can look forward to that! **

**Don't forget to read the next chapter of the double upload!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: All right! Chapter 2 of the double upload here! For this one, we have Green and Zelda!**

**So, this one's going to take a bit of explanation. First of all, this may also be a good time to refresh people that there is very limited magic use in my world, meaning that Zelda does not use magic in this fic.**

**Now for the more important part. I'm using this chapter to introduce my Pokémon Trainers, which are the Dexholders from the Pokémon Special Manga. We'll have Red (corresponds to Male Pokémon Trainer), Green (Prof. Oak's Grandson), and Blue (corresponds to Female Pokémon Trainer) as well as my OC Indigo as Smashers, meaning that this Smash fic will connect with my previous Pokespe AU fic. I'm not expecting anyone here to have read that, so there's no need to go back and read that fic – all the pertinent info will be explained in this fic.  
**

**With all that out of the way, let's finally start this chapter!**

* * *

Green sauntered into the gardens of Hyrule Castle, stretching his legs. As usual, he was in Hyrule on Smasher business. Rumors of large groups of Stalfos, led by a magic user had been reported in the Tabantha Frontier. From the information, Link had quickly deduced that the magician was probably one of Ganondorf's underlings, and sent a call out to the Smashers, requesting the assistance of the Smasher's resident Pokemon Trainers, the Pokedex Holders.

Naturally, they'd be a good fit for the job. With both the ability to fly with their Pokemon and the diverse and powerful nature of their teams, they'd likely be able to cut the search time in half and be able to assist in the elimination of the Stalfos.

Which was why Green was here in Hyrule. It was nice to get away from the mundane duties of the Dexholders, now that they were an official task force of the International Pokemon League. He sighed. It had been a long eight years since he'd been just the Gym Leader of Viridian City. Back then, they'd been former members of the officially disbanded Pokedex research project. Now, he was a leading member of an inter-regional task force comprised of his fellow dexholders and a Smasher to boot.

He'd been a Smasher for quite a few years at this point. While Red was one of the founding members of the Super Smash Bros, Green and his fellow senior dexholders Blue and Indigo had been recruited into the organization shortly before the Tabuu Subspace incident, on Red's recommendation. What a _disaster_ that had been. He'd spent hours with an equally frustrated Roy after the debacle, drafting contingency plans while the others mitigated the aftermath elsewhere. Thankfully, those long nights were far behind him.

He took a deep breath of the warm air. It was late spring in Hyrule, which was a nice change of pace for him. It had been winter in Kanto when he'd left yesterday. They'd only celebrated New Year's Day two weeks prior.

He gave the guards a nod as he passed into one of the courtyards. The garden with expansive, spanning the entire side of the castle. It was adorned with a wide variety of flowers, bushes and trees, many of which he was unfamiliar with. He sauntered through, enjoying the beauty. He didn't touch anything, though. It was a universally recommended rule of thumb for Pokémon Trainers to avoid contact with plants that they weren't familiar with. He was pretty certain that these plants were safe, it was just force of habit.

Eventually came to a bench and sat down. He stretched. The time for action would come soon enough. There was no need to exert himself unnecessarily on an overly long walk. One of his Pokeballs wriggled a little. Green looked down and sent out the Pokemon. His Charizard hit the ground and snorted happily. He sat down on the grass next to Green, carefully wrapping his tail in front of him to make sure he didn't accidentally set something on fire.

"Hey, Charizard. You ready to fly?"

Charizard nodded its head. It let out a small grunt of affirmation and puffed a small jet of flame out of his mouth. Green allowed himself a small smile. Charizard was raring to go.

"Do you find yourself enjoying the gardens?" asked a quiet voice from next to him. He looked up to see a brown haired young Hylian woman in a blue dress standing on the path. A red flower was perched in her hair.

"Good day miss. Taking a stroll yourself?"

"Ah, yes, I was." She turned to the garden. "It's said the princess herself takes care of this garden in particular. They say she found wonderful plants from all across Hyrule and personally planted every single tree, bush and flower you see here."

She stretched out her hand.

"I'm Marin, by the way."

Green's eyebrow raised and shook her hand.

"I'm Green."

He recognized that name. Marin was one of Zelda's many alter egos. It looked like she had the same idea that he did. Green eyed Marin critically. One wouldn't have even thought for a second that Marin was Zelda. She hadn't even dyed her hair. Green supposed that it was what made her a master of disguise.

Charizard extended his claw. Marin giggled and shook Charizard's hand as well.

"He's a really nice…uh…Pokemon?"

"Yes, Pokemon. I'm a Pokemon Trainer," said Green.

Zelda knew this, but it was part of the façade. In case anyone was watching. It was probable that nobody was watching, but Green knew that Zelda preferred immense caution with her alter egos.

Only the adult smashers and a very select few others knew of Princess Zelda's true role with regard to the Smashers. Zelda did a lot of dangerous deep undercover work under her many alternate identities. Despite the fact that she had numerous alter egos, she frequently returned to the persona of Sheik, her combat alter ego and usual public face for less covert missions. Officially, Princess Zelda was not associated at all with the Smashers at all. Instead, the Sheikah were officially represented by the mysterious warrior only known as Sheik due to how frequently Zelda wore the cowl. Knowledge of her true identity and her actual role on the Super Smash Bros. could be disastrous due to the nature of missions that she usually took. Green just didn't know that she had a green thumb as well.

"It's a beautiful place. The princess must have put a lot of love and care into this garden."

It wasn't flattery, it was simply an observation of fact. His sister did a lot of gardening and he knew what a well-cared for garden looked like.

"I'm sure she'd be quite pleased that you are enjoying it so much. The princess isn't… as inclined to public appearances in recent days."

That was the cover story, at least. Blame the "reclusive behavior" on PTSD from Ganondorf's invasion. It wasn't totally untrue, either. That's what made it so convincing.

"Hmm. Understandable. Life in the public eye can be quite draining," agreed Green.

He relaxed back onto the bench, and Marin took a seat next to him.

"So, how did you come to work at the castle?" asked Green.

"Oh, I'm one of the royal musicians. I play the harp and sing," said Marin. "I left my harp in my room, though."

That was right. Marin was the bard/travelling musician persona. He'd heard her play before. She was _very_ good. Good enough to publish an album and top Gold's infamous music charts for months, in his own opinion.

"So, how'd you learn to play the harp?" asked Green.

"Oh, my mentor taught me. He actually plays the accordion most of the time, but he's familiar with a variety of musical instruments. He's truly amazing!"

Green nodded. He must have been outright legendary if Zelda had gotten that skilled under his tutelage.

"He must have taught you well. I hear the royal family loves music. You must be a masterful musician."

Marin giggled. "Oh, you flatter me."

They sat in silence for a moment enjoying the setting sun as it slowly made its way to the horizon.

"Sunset in Hyrule is beautiful. Legend has it that it's the time of day that there's a whole realm that can only be traversed to and from during twilight," said Marin.

"Really now? What is it like?" asked Green.

"It's said that the other realm is a barren land, cloaked in perpetual twilight. It's said that there was once a great war between the Royal Family and a group of vicious rebels a very long time ago. The Royal Family won and banished the rebels who surrendered to the Twilight Realm, as it's called. There's a broken mirror in an ancient structure far out in the desert that's said to once have allowed for travel between our realm and the Twilight realm."

"What happened to the mirror?" asked Green, intrigued. He really needed to read up on Hylian history. Especially if it was as interesting as this.

"Oh, it was said to have been destroyed by a group of Gerudo bandits who were trying to escape the wrath of the Gerudo Chieftain at the time. They tried to use the mirror to escape, but in their haste they broke the mirror. It's said that unless the mirror is repaired, the realms will be forever separated."

Green nodded. "Seems like that's been working out for our realm, though."

Marin just laughed. "I guess it has. I just love stories like that, though! They have such a sense of mystery!"

Green smiled politely. "I suppose they do."

"Say, do you have any legends like that in your land?" asked Marin.

Green thought for a moment. "We don't have anything similar back in Kanto. Wait, I take that back. There's a legend about Clefairy and Clefable. Do you know what they are?"

"No, I don't," said Marin.

Green pulled out his Pokedex and skimmed through it, until he came to the right section. He showed Marin pictures of the two Pokemon.

"Oh! They're really cute!"

"So, legend has it that Clefairy once lived in a kingdom on the moon. They wanted to expand their kingdom to the surface of the planet, so they sent an explorer party to Kanto. They created a meteor out of Moon Stones and shot it off to the planet. Eventually, they crash landed on Mt. Moon and they explored the lands. However, they weren't able to find enough Moon Stones to make another meteor to go back home and they remained trapped on the surface. But once every year, they go back to the meteor impact site, and dance around it."

"Oh, no! That's so sad! They were never able to go home!" gasped Marin. "Is this real?"

"The dance is, at least. I've actually seen it."

"You have?"

Green nodded. "It's real. Closest thing to magic I've ever seen. Though it wasn't around a crater, it was on Mt. Moon."

"Wow!" exclaimed Marin. "That sounds amazing!"

"It is," said Green. "The Clefairy and Clefable all hold hands, and dance in a circle under the full moon. It's the stuff fairy tales are made of. The Clefable also collect Moon stones and bring them to the strongest Clefairy so that they can evolve. While we don't understand their society very well, as Clefairy and Clefable are both reclusive Pokemon, this does indicate that they have a much more complex social structure then many other Pokemon," said Green.

"Wow… that is just like a real-life fairy tale! Do you think they actually have a kingdom on the moon?" asked Marin excitedly.

"There's no evidence to prove it," said Green.

"Aww, that's disappointing!" said Marin.

"But we haven't properly explored the moon," amended Green. "Our astronauts have only been there a few times for short visits. So, the potential still exists, I guess."

"Wow! That's so exciting! Although, you guys are leagues ahead of us in that department. We only got electricity installed throughout all of Hyrule a few years ago! It will be a long time before we explore our moon!" said Zelda. "I wonder what could be there? Maybe that's where the fairies come from!"

"I guess that could be a possibility," said Green. He was trying to sound positive, but he had little faith in the idea. The atmosphere was far too thin to support any kind of life as far as he knew.

Marin glanced down at her watch. She stood up. "Oh! I have to perform soon," said Marin. "I'm afraid I have to go now. It was nice talking with you, Mr. Smasher!"

"It was a pleasure," said Green cordially. Of course, the excuse to leave the conversation to give Zelda time to change into Sheik. It was all part of the façade. Green leaned back as Marin walked off towards the castle, a bouncy spring in her step. Sure, it was a little awkward talking with Zelda in one of her personas, but it was nice to enjoy the company of his fellow Smashers.

Charizard sniffed the air.

"You smell something?" asked Green.

Charizard growled softly and flicked his wings out.

"I smell the meat too, Charizard. And calm down. We'll have enough time to fly very soon." said Green.

He rose to his feet. "Let's go make sure the others are ready if you've got so much energy."

Charizard snorted and followed behind Green as he made his way back towards the castle as the sun finished sinking below the horizon, casting a few last rays of light into the garden.

Green paused to look back at the garden for a moment. It looked tremendously peaceful in the growing dusk. Zelda really had done a great job planting and caring for the place.

He must have been staring for longer then he thought, as Charizard gently nudged him. Green snapped back to reality. Charizard chuckled quietly. Green shook his head. This wasn't like him at all. And now Charizard was laughing at him.

"All right. Let's get going."

* * *

**Well, this one was a bit more world building focused then character focused. Rest assured that I plan to revisit Zelda – I hope to do quite a bit with her character in the future. This also isn't the last you'll hear about the Dexholders too. **

**Hope you all enjoyed the double upload!**

**Also, there is a new Super Smash Bros fanfiction and fanart Discord server that's been opened called Super Smash Prose! If this interests you, the Discord ID is gDK48ua.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: All right! We have another chapter! This time, we have the Ice Climbers and Wii Fit Trainer (F)! **

**While I'm here, I'd like to put out a quick reminder that new chapters for this fic are written when I have inspiration for something new. I'm always happy to hear your suggestions for character interactions but please realize that inspiration is not a reliable thing and that it may be some time before suggested characters make an appearance. Fear not, I am planning to have every single character eventually appear on Library of Moments. **

**One more note before we start – for those unfamiliar, my Female WFT is named Carrie and my Male WFT is named Murphy. They are also twin siblings. **

**With all that out of the way, let's begin!**

* * *

Carrie walked through the halls of Smash Mansion on the way to the kitchen. She was in a very good mood. She had just come from a fantastic yoga session. It was the perfect time for a healthy meal!

She walked into the kitchen to see a very strange sight. Popo was standing on a stool, trying to cut something with a knife in an otherwise empty kitchen. He was surrounded with a few grocery bags of vegetables, accompanied with a large pot, a lid and a ladle. His parka was sprawled out over one of the chairs where he'd also leaned his mallet.

"Whoa! Popo! What are you doing with that knife?"

"Making Eggplant Soup," said Popo as he carefully cut the eggplant on his cutting board into slices.

"Why are you making Eggplant Soup?" asked Carrie.

"Nana's feeling down because we're missing the Aurora Festival," said Popo, not even looking up from the eggplant he was slicing.

"The Aurora Festival?" asked Carrie.

"One week a year, the aurora goes on for an entire week with no stop. We have a big festival to celebrate it," said Popo. "Unfortunately, we had to be here for training during the Aurora Festival and Nana's feeling down about it, since it's her favorite festival. So, I'm making her Eggplant Soup to cheer her up. It's her favorite."

"Oh!" said Carrie. "Do you need any help making that? I can help you, if you like." It was probably a good idea to have somebody supervising him, honestly. Popo wasn't known for his meticulous attention to detail.

Popo paused for a moment. "Ok. Sure. But we need to be quick! I don't want Nana to be out of it for too long."

Carrie nodded. "All right! What do you want to be cut first?"

Popo pointed to some carrots next to him. "Start with these. I've got zucchini in that bag over there."

Carrie smiled. "All right!"

Carrie grabbed a knife and another cutting board and began cutting up the carrots.

The two cut vegetables in silence for some time. Carrie finished slicing the carrots and moved on to the pile of zucchini. She glanced over to Popo, who was cutting up a few onions.

After cutting up a pile of leeks and washing a bundle of spinach, two surveyed the pile of prepared vegetables. Popo pulled an index card out of his pocket and inspected it closely. Carrie walked up behind him and looked at the card over his shoulder.

On the card was scrawled a recipe in Popo's sloppy, nearly illegible scrawl in bright orange permanent marker. Probably the first thing he'd found to write with.

"Did your mother give you this recipe?" asked Carrie.

"Yeah, I just called her," said Popo, his eyes not leaving the card for a moment. "She changed it up a little for me. Since I'm not good at cooking things. Uh…we need vegetable stock."

He jumped off of the stool and briskly walked to the fridge. Popo rummaged through the contents of the lower shelves of the fridge.

"Oh, come on! Who put the vegetable stock on the top shelf!" grumbled Popo. He turned to get the stool, but Carrie stopped him.

"I can get it for you," she said. She quickly grabbed the carton and handed it to Popo.

"Thanks." Popo took the carton and walked back to counter. He climbed back up on the stool and emptied the entire container into the pot.

"All right. Now we add the vegetables and a bunch of water and cook it for….uh…" Popo trailed off, squinting at his card.

Carrie looked at the card and shook her head. It would seem that Popo's lackluster handwriting had come back to bite him. The worst part of it was that she couldn't figure out what Popo had scrawled out either.

"Uh….so we cook it for…uh…I'm not sure what this says either," she said after some deliberation. "Popo, do you remember what your mother said?"

Popo thought for a second. His face scrunched up. "Uh….I….don't really remember…"

Carrie shook her head. "Oh well, we'll just have to try and figure it out then. We can't have Nana feeling down, can we?"

Popo shook his head. "But what if we do it wrong?" asked Popo.

Carrie smiled. "Don't worry! We'll still be able make it! Listen. I'm a specialist in cooking healthy foods and everything you just put in that pot is very healthy. I think I know how long it will take."

"How do you know that?" asked Popo curiously.

"Experience, mostly. While Murphy was trying to make Fitness Bread, I spent my time trying to make healthy recipes that would be easy for anyone to make. I've cooked a lot of vegetables in my time. I think I can make an educated guess for the right time to cook."

"But what if it still turns out wrong?" asked Popo.

Carrie grinned. "I'll go eat some of Murphy's Fitness Bread if it doesn't turn out right."

"Seriously!?" asked Popo with surprise.

"Pinky promise. Trust me. This is going to work!"

"All right," said Popo, with a little less conviction in his voice. That was all right. Carrie was quite sure of herself on this one.

"Ok," said Carrie. "Can I see your recipe?"

Popo handed her his index card. Carrie scanned the card, trying to piece together the recipe through Popo's horrific handwriting.

"Uh, ok. So, we're here, right?" she asked Popo, pointing to one of the lines of print on the card.

"Uh huh," nodded Popo.

"Ok. So, we're going to put all the vegetables in the pot and cook it for 75 minutes. And we're going to add some salt and pepper for a little extra flavor."

"How much?" asked Popo.

"Uh…a few pinches."

"A few pinches? How much is that?" asked Popo.

"Uh... A pinch. It's something you get a feel for it over time."

"Huh… do you think that I could do that? Eventually?"

"You'd probably need some practice. But with practice, sure! You could definitely pick it up!"

Popo nodded. "Guess I'd better get started learning if I want to be able to cook."

"Of course! Practice makes perfect. You'll learn to cook in time. Anyway, let's get this soup going, shall we?"

The two started putting the vegetables into the pot, before adding a few cups of water. Carrie walked to the cabinet and put in the salt and pepper. She then put the pot on the stove.

"Now we need to cook it on medium heat. And that's all!"

"That's it? That was easy!"

"Yeah, that's it!" said Carrie.

"So now we wait?" asked Popo.

Carrie nodded, "Yes. For 75 minutes."

"75 minutes!? That's forever…" grumbled Popo.

"I know. But let's sit down! We don't want to have to stand the entire time!"

Carrie went to the table and pulled out a chair for herself and for Popo.

Popo slid into the seat as Carrie sat down.

The two sat in silence for some time.

"So…Miss Carrie…I was wondering….." started Popo.

"Yes?" asked Carrie.

"What's it like to care for someone?" asked Popo.

"What do you mean?" asked Carrie.

"Well…I'm Nana's climbing partner, right? So, I should be taking care of her. But am I doing it right?"

"What makes you think you're doing it wrong?" asked Carrie.

"Well, Nana's really feeling down," said Popo. "I mean, we're usually attached at the hip. Literally sometimes. So, it's really weird that she's in her room, moping around, because she's supposed to be out here with me. Climber pairs always stick together. That's the rule. If you split up, things go bad. They always do. And…I didn't want to split up. But we're split up anyway. And I don't know if it's my fault. Should I have done something different? Am I not taking good enough care of her?"

"Well, you said that she was sad because she was missing out on her favorite festival?" asked Carrie.

"I mean…I think so," said Popo. "I don't think I did anything wrong. But what if I actually did but I didn't know that I did?"

"Well, if you think you did something wrong, maybe you did," said Carrie. "Can you think of anything that you did to hurt Nana's feelings?"

Popo thought for some time. "Maybe it was because I accidentally ordered Grape Pineapple soda instead of Grape Cherry soda for her on the way here? It's her favorite drink in the transport spaceship cafeteria."

"I don't think Nana would be angry at you for something that minor," said Carrie.

"Uh…I think I put her comb in the wrong pocket of her suitcase too…" said Popo. "Maybe it was that? I don't know what else it would be."

Carrie smiled at him. "If this is all you can think of, then you probably didn't do anything wrong. It's totally possible that you didn't mess up. Maybe you should trust your instincts and assume that Nana is sad because she's missing the festival."

"But Nana's still sad and holed up in her room!" said Popo. "Then what I'm doing wrong is not doing enough! She shouldn't be sad in the first place! Climbers don't do that! They don't let their partner down like that!"

Carrie shook her head. "You didn't let anyone down. If anything, we let you down by not checking when the Aurora Festival was."

"Are you sure?" asked Popo.

"I'm sure. And you're taking initiative to try and cheer up Nana! If anything, you're doing a good job!

Popo looked down at his mittens. "So, how soon with the soup be ready?"

Carrie checked the timer on her phone. "Um…we have 65 minutes left."

Popo just sighed.

"That is quite a while," agreed Carrie. She thought for a moment. "Let's do some yoga while we wait! That's a fun way to pass the time!"

The look on Popo's face said otherwise.

Carrie was holding a relaxing tree pose when the timer went off. Popo practically jumped out of his chair and rushed toward the stove. He grabbed ladle and poured some of the soup into a bowl. He took a sip.

"All right. This tastes right," he said. He quickly polished off the rest of the sample.

"Everything tastes like it's supposed to! You really are good at this Miss Carrie!"

Carrie smiled. "All right, let's get that bowl of soup for Nana."

Popo nodded eagerly and went for another bowl.

As he scooped more soup into the bowl, Carrie said, "Don't fill it too much. You're going to have to carry that up to her, right?

"Oh, right," said Popo, somewhat embarrassed.

"You didn't think of that, did you?"

"Umm…."

"Don't worry, Popo. Your heart is in the right place. Come on! Let's not keep Nana waiting!"

"Yeah! Let's not make her wait!" said Popo enthusiastically. He grabbed a spoon, picked up the bowl and carefully walked out of the kitchen.

Carrie followed behind him closely. Hopefully there would be no spills.

It was a long climb up the stairs to the kid's wing of Smash Mansion. Though both the second and third floors of the mansion were dedicated to dormitories for the Smashers, the kid smashers had been unanimous in a request to be put on the fourth floor. It was cooler to be on the top floor, they had said. Carrie was sure that Popo was now regretting his decision to put the kid dorms so far away from the kitchen as he carefully carried the steaming bowl of soup up the third flight of stairs.

Nevertheless, he continued to climb upwards. As they rounded one of the landings, they passed Mario and Luigi walking down the stairs.

The Mario Bros waved politely and let Popo go past them, though they gave Carrie questioning looks. She flashed them a thumbs up from behind Popo's back. She was watching the situation. There would be no repeats of the exploding toaster oven incident from last year on her watch.

As they made it to the top of the stairs, they came out in a hallway on the fourth floor. Carrie looked out the window. They were near the near the far end of the Mansion. Here, the hallway split into two ways. To the right sat a long hallway down to the other side of Smash Mansion. Along that hallway sat many of the quietest parts of the Mansion, including the Library, the Grand Balcony, and the Command Center. However, their destination was straight ahead, where the kids' dorms sat. Carrie opened the door to the door as Popo walked into the central lounge area. It housed a mini kitchen area with a fridge and microwave, but no stove or oven, as well as a large table with several chairs. One corner had a large TV with a number of gaming consoles arranged around it. On one end of the room was a door leading to the boy's dorms with another door on the opposite wall leading to the girl's side.

The door to the girl's side burst open, revealing a young Inkling.

"Uh? Oh! Popo!" she said. "You got that soup that you were gonna use to cheer up Nana?"

"Yeah! Thanks for watching her, Irene!"

"No problem. I'm off to the shooting range now. Cya!"

Irene dashed out of the room, splattershot in hand.

Carrie held the door of the girl's dorms open as Popo carefully walked in.

They found themselves in another hallway, with four doors on each wall. Carrie had been told that when the Mansion had originally been built after the Ganondorf Incident, the Smashers had made it much larger then they needed at the time, to accommodate future Smashers. It was a good thing that they did, as the only resident of the girl's side of the kid's dorms at the time had been Nana. Thankfully, it had filled out somewhat over time.

Popo walked up to the closest door. It had a name card with Nana's name on it. Below the namecard was a cardboard cutout of a mallet. Popo knocked on the door.

"Nana! Open up! It's me!"

After a few moments, Nana could be heard grumbling faintly. "What for?"

"I got you Eggplant Soup!" said Popo.

"Popo…just don't…" said Nana tiredly.

"No!" I actually have Eggplant Soup!" said Popo.

"He does have Eggplant Soup for you," called Carrie. "It's getting cold!"

"Uh…give me a second…." said Nana, with a little more energy. There was some shuffling around inside the room for a few moments before the door creaked open.

Her hair was unkept and her parka looked matted and disheveled.

Popo held the bowl of soup out.

"You actually made me Eggplant Soup?" asked Nana, catching a whiff of the soup's fragrance.

"Yeah! Of course I did!" said Popo. "What kind of climber would I be if I didn't do anything while my partner was feeling down?"

Nana took the bowl and took a sip of the broth. "Hmm….not bad."

She gave Popo a suspicious look. "You had help, didn't you?"

"Hey! I'm not that bad! How do you know that I had help?"

"Because Carrie is standing right next to you. And she's into eating healthy stuff, so she obviously helped you."

"Well, uh…she might have helped a little…" said Popo.

Nana chuckled a little. "Thanks Popo. This means a lot to me."

Carrie smiled as Nana put the bowl of soup down and gave Popo a hug. "Well, if you don't mind, I need to get going. I hope that helps you feel better, Nana."

"It does! Thanks for helping Popo, Miss Carrie," said Nana.

"Hey! I'm not helpless!" protested Popo. "She assisted me!"

"No problem Nana!" said Carrie. She turned as Popo and Nana began to banter and began to make her way back to the stairs.

She smiled. The siblings reminded her of simpler days from long ago in her own life. Which reminded her of something.

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Murphy. It's me. I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch with me today?"

"Yeah! Sure! Where do you want to go?"

"You know? I was feeling eggplants today. Want to go to Maurice's sub shop?"

"For eggplant subs? Sounds good to me!" said Murphy. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have made a large pot of soup with eggplants in it?"

"I did. Why do you ask?"

"I'm in the kitchen right now, and Kirby's looking mighty hungry."

"Stay put. I'm on my way."

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! Before you go, here's my shameless plug for my SSB fanfiction server. **

**Are you interested in Super Smash Bros Fanfiction and Fanart? Then the Super Smash Prose Discord server is for you! If this interests you, the Discord ID is gDK48ua.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Apologies for the slightly shorter chapter this time around. Originally, a different chapter was supposed to be posted, but I changed my mind at the last minute and wrote this. Hope this turned out all right.**

* * *

Ness's eyes widened.

"Your sword can vanquish all evil?" he asked.

"Well, the title is 'Blade of Evil's Bane', I don't know if it's got any special properties beyond being a Haxium weapon. But the Master Sword worked against Ganondorf pretty well," said Link with a smile.

"I told you Link's sword was awesome!" said Toon Link.

"What about you, Marth? What about your sword?" asked Popo

"Falchion? Well, it's been passed down by my family for generations. Many dragons, tyrants and villains have fallen to this blade. My ancestor Anri first wielded it alongside Master Hand and his companions in the Second Subspace War," said Marth.

"That's awesome!" said Popo.

"Did your ancestor wield the Master Sword with Master Hand in the Second Subspace War, Link?" asked Nana.

Link shook his head. "It wasn't my ancestor, but one of my predecessors as the Hylian Champion, a warrior by the name of Groose, wielded the Master Sword alongside Master Hand. That's how he got the title 'Hero of Subspace'."

"Ike! Does your sword have a cool story?" asked Ness.

"Ragnell?" asked Ike. "Uh, it was wielded by the legendary Beorc hero Altina, along with its sister sword, Alondite. She fought with Master Hand as well."

"THAT'S AWESOME!" shouted Popo excitedly. "Did she dual wield them?"

"The legends say that she did," said Ike.

"That's really cool!" said Nana, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Isn't your sword also pretty special too, Toon Link?" asked Marth.

"Yeah! The Four Sword lets me split into four copies of myself! It's really awesome!" said Toon Link. "I just thought that only my sword and Link's sword were the only cool ones! I guess I was wrong!"

The Kid smashers talked amongst themselves excitedly. Meta Knight smiled as he cleaned Galaxia. Their enthusiasm was contagious.

It was a little noisy for his taste. They were all crowded down in the armory of the mansion, a usually quiet place where each Smasher could store their combat weapons, supplies and gear in a personal chain link cubicle. Meta Knight's own cubicle was modestly furnished, housing a few lockers with his backup capes, and cleaning supplies for Galaxia. He had a bench to sit on and some personal training dummies and sandbags. It was far simpler than some of the others….

"Hey Snake! Where'd you get your knife from?"

Snake turned from his many lockers of weapons and ammunition.

"Uh, it was the one they issued me as part of my kit when I enlisted. I've had it ever since. Been with me through a lot."

"Hey, that's still pretty cool!" said Toon Link.

"Yeah! It's something that really belongs to you!" said Ness. "I mean, not as cool as being a legendary weapon wielded by a legendary hero, but still, that's cool!"

Igrene frowned. "Hey! Don't be rude!" The Inkling shook her head in disapproval.

"Ack! All right! Sorry!" grumbled Ness.

Snake cracked a slight smile. "No problem. It's not the flashiest weapon, but its reliable. That's what matters to me."

"Hey Meta Knight! Your sword's pretty cool, right?" said Popo. He rushed up to Meta Knight with the other Kid Smashers in tow.

"I suppose it is. My weapon's name is Galaxia. I have wielded since before the Second Subspace War," said Meta Knight.

"Wow! Wasn't that over 300 years ago? That's a really long time!" exclaimed Igrene. "You must take really good care of it!"

Meta Knight smiled behind his mask. He remembered a time when he was the one staring in awe at the blade when it was first given to him. Ah, those were good memories.

"Indeed. It has been a very long time since I was given Galaxia. Maintaining one's weapon is always important. Even for a Haxium one like mine. Don't forget that. Care for your weapon, and it will care for you."

"Of course, Sir Meta Knight!" said Toon Link with a sloppy salute.

Galaxia, the gleaming blade of justice. Meta Knight and his sword had indeed seen many battles over the centuries together, including the climactic final battle against the Lords of Subspace during the Second Subspace War. Of course, any weapon not made of Haxium, the legendary supermetal alloy created by the Hands wouldn't last for as long as Galaxia had. Famous for its light weight, inability to conduct electricity, immunity to magnetism and extraordinary durability, Haxium was widely known as the toughest supermetal to the galaxy. Galaxia had come into Meta Knight's possession during the war, when the Hands had made Haxium weapons for their strongest allies. These weapons included the Master Sword, Falchion, Ragnell, Alondite, and Galaxia, among many others. Meta Knight still remembered the day Master Hand had presented him with the blade. It was a day he'd never forget. Even to this day, centuries later, he was still honored that he was given the weapon, and he wielded his blade with immense pride.

He watched as the kids began to talk amongst themselves again. Suddenly, somebody caught Ness's eye.

"Hey Corrinne? What about your sword?" asked Ness. "Does it have a cool story?"

"Uh…where did I get this sword?" wondered Corrinne. The Nohrian princess inspected her silver sword for a moment. "Oh right! I took it from the armory of this castle we took towards the end of the war against Garon. Hasn't broken yet!"

"Eh? That's a lame story!" protested Popo.

"What about taking care of weapons so that they don't break?" said Ness.

"Yeah! Like Meta Knight said!" added Igrene.

"Meta Knight has a very nice Haxium sword. Mine isn't so nice. Sure, I take care of it, but it's going to break eventually. Here, let me show you my backups!"

Corrinne grabbed an armful of swords from a locker and dumped them unceremoniously in a pile. She held one up.

"This one I pulled out of a marsh! One of our enemies dropped it while retreating and I thought that it was too nice just to waste…"

"Really? That's the story behind that sword?" said Nana, sounding disappointed.

"Oh! And this one! I haggled Anna for eight hours to get a 20% discount for this one!"

"Boo! That's boring!" shouted Ness.

Meta Knight cast an amused look to Chrom, who was cleaning his own sword on a bench quietly. He shook his head.

"Haggling with Anna is no mean feat, you know," Chrom said.

"But haggling is boring!" protested Toon Link.

"Wait, what about your bow?" asked Igrene. "Maybe your sword doesn't have a cool story but maybe your bow does? Like it was used by an ancient hero or something?"

"Nope! I got this one on a fire sale from an armory. It was apparently damaged by smoke or something, but I've had no problems. Got it on a 75% off sale. Not too shabby of a deal."

"WHAT!" shouted Toon Link in surprise and disbelief, "That's not a cool story!"

Ness asked, "Well, what about your axe?"

"It's a hatchet for cutting wood. It's not a weapon unless it's an emergency," said Corrinne flatly.

"That sucks!"

Popo piped up, "You have a pretty cool combat knife, right?"

"I literally don't remember where I got it," said Corrinne after a moment of thought. "Wait, was this the one that Silas got for me? No, I gave that to Flora when hers broke…"

"Do any of your weapons have a cool story?" asked Popo in disbelief.

"Yeah! Even us Kid Smashers have cool weapons!" said Toon Link. "Like my Four Sword!"

"My hammer was made for me by my tribe's elders! So was Nana's!" said Popo.

"My baseball bat and yoyo were given to me by my dad, who was a legend! All of our weapons have special stories, why don't yours?" asked Ness.

"Uh…because I'm cheap?" said Corrinne nonchalantly.

"THAT'S SO UNCOOL!"

"BOO!"

"WHAT SMASHER DOESN'T WIELD A WEAPON WITH SOME COOL BACKSTORY!?"

Marth and Ike facepalmed. These kids just had no idea. Meta Knight frowned a little under his mask. These youngsters should be treating their elders with a little more respect than that.

"Now, now. Let's not be too hard on Corrinne," he said. "Not everyone can have a legendary weapon."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," sighed Igrene. "Fire sale gear isn't cool, though."

Suddenly, Mario stuck his head in the door.

"Oh! There you all are! You ready to go to the arcade? The van's ready!"

The kids cheered in unison and rushed out of the armory.

"Sorry they were giving you trouble," said Mario. "Tires looked a little low so I went to check the air pressure, and I couldn't find the air pressure gauge. Took me longer then I thought it would."

"Don't worry about it," said Corrinne. "We weren't too bothered by them."

"All righty! I'll see you later. Don't want to keep the kids waiting too long!" said Mario cheerily with a wave.

The Smashers waved as Mario ducked out of the doorway, heading after the kids.

There was a short silence.

After a moment, Link said, "Say, Corrinne, how'd you manage to beat down Anna to a 20% discount? I think we could all learn from a master negotiator."

"You want to hear it? Fair warning, it's a long story. Settle on in, because we're gonna be here a while."

Meta Knight inspected Galaxia one more time, satisfied with the way he'd cleaned it. He put it back in his sheath.

"All right, Corrinne. Let's hear this tale of yours."

* * *

**So, some of you may have noticed that I have managed to put out a new chapter about once a week by some miracle. There's a reason for that. Stay tuned for next week's chapter – it's meant to be a lead in chapter for something big. There will also be an announcement for that "something big" at the end. What is it? Find out next week!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: All right, folks! The next chapter of Library of Moments has arrived! **

**Before we start, I would like to mention that I have named Male Byleth Byron, Female Byleth Brynhilde and Male Robin Robert.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chrom strolled through the hallways of Smash Mansion, a bag of pre prepared food in one hand and a bag of camping cooking equipment in the other. He was pumped. Really pumped. The others were about to experience perfection in the form of his campfire style venison stew. He had all the seasoning, vegetables and most importantly, his venison. It was only a matter of lighting the fire and making his friends the best venison stew the world had ever seen.

He stepped out onto the porch.

"Hey Chrom!" called Pac Man from where he stood in front of the grill, setting up. "Fire stuff's by the fire pit like you asked!"

"Thanks!" called Chrom back.

Chrom strode straight up to the fireplace. A bundle of logs and tinder sat next to it, along with a lighter. Chrom dropped his bags and got to setting up the fire. With practiced ease, he set the tinder ablaze and quickly fanned the spark into a respectable cooking fire. The fire was essential to his recipe. The stew had to be cooked over a wood fire as the smoke enhanced the flavor. He'd tried making it in a more conventional stove and it just didn't quite taste right.

Chrom reached into his camping bag and pulled out a medium sized cooking pot. He arranged it in front of himself on the coals of the fire. Chrom then turned to his bag of food and produced several sealed bags of precut ingredients. He added some water, before dumping in the bag of venison cubes. The bags of potatoes, carrots, and beans followed, along with a smaller bag of onions and an even smaller bag of his own personal spice blend that he'd worked so hard to perfect. He stirred the stew before rubbing his hands together and placing the lid on the pot. It was time to wait.

* * *

Exactly 45 minutes later, Chrom opened the lid. A delicious aroma met his nose, and he poked at the contents with a meat probe. It looked like it was nearly done. This fire wasn't quite as hot as he would have liked, so he decided to let it cook for a little longer.

"Hey!" shouted Pac Man from the grill. "You done yet? I'm almost done with my kebabs! Olimar's up at the grill after me and then we eat!"

"Don't worry! I'm almost done here!" called Chrom back.

"That's right! I'm getting hungry!" boomed Bowser as he strode out of a storage shed in the yard, a plastic folding table under each arm. Snake and Game and Watch followed him carrying a few folding chairs each.

Chrom put the lid on his pot and watched as Bowser placed a few bags of chips, a container of salsa and a large box of cookies on the table from where he'd left them on the grass. Sadly, Bowser wasn't the best cook, which was why he ended up buying most of the stuff to fill in the gaps of the potluck. Game and Watch followed behind him with two large glass jars of tea. The 2D man loved the stuff and was known for his homemade tea concoctions. Chrom could attest to the flavor and lack of bitterness of G&W's tea. He was a master in his own right, that much was certain. And of course, Snake had brought his infamous Creepy Crawly Platter. Not that snake and frog legs were that creepy or crawly, but apparently the name had stuck and despite the name, it was legendary. According to Otacon and Sunny, anyway. Chrom would be the judge of that, but if the recommendations were anything to go by, it was going to be great.

Pac Man followed them to the table, a large plate of kebabs in his hand, piled high. That looked real good. Which meant Olimar was on the grill. The space pilot was standing on a stool, placing various vegetables on the grill.

It wouldn't be long before Olimar's Pikpik carrots would be done, the Hocotacian had assured them that they would only take a few minutes to cook on an already hot grill. Chrom turned back to his pot and checked the contents. He stirred the stew a little. It definitely looked done. He stuck his meat probe into one of the chunks of meat and waited as the temperature hit 180 degrees. He smiled. It was definitely cooked. He quickly picked up the pot with a pair of oven mitts and carried it over to the table. Bowser gave him a massive grin.

"Hey! That smells pretty good!"

"Just wait till you actually taste it!" said Chrom. "Gonna be the best stew you've ever had!"

"Hah! I'll reserve my judgement till I eat it!"

"Go ahead! Still gonna be the best stew you've ever eat!"

Bowser just laughed.

"Anyway, I'm gonna put the fire out real quick," said Chrom.

"All righty then!" said Bowser. "Don't take too long, I think Olimar's plating his carrots."

Chrom quickly made his way towards the door. As he neared the door, it opened to reveal the stone faced fishing master himself, Byron. He stepped out with a large plate with several fish filets on it, leaning against the door with his back to open it. Chrom held the door for him.

"Thanks," Byron said with his characteristic lack of inflection.

Chrom nodded as he passed him. He turned to the side of the doorway, where he'd left a bucket of water. He carried it over to the fire and quickly doused it. Satisfied that the fire was thoroughly quenched, Chrom turned around and went back to the table where the others were congregating.

Bowser, Olimar, Mr. Game and Watch, Pac Man, Byron, and Snake were already seated by the time Chrom got there.

"All right!" said Game and Watch, looking around, and making sure that everybody was there. "We're all present! I hereby declare this meeting of Dad's Club in session!"

He tapped the table with his spoon like a gavel. Game and Watch then pulled out a piece of paper.

"All right. For today's itinerary…well, first thing on the docket is to eat the food before it gets cold! All right! Dig in folks!"

There was a general cheer. Chrom quickly grabbed one of Pac Man's kebabs before Game and Watch swiped too many and nabbed one of Byron's fish filets while they were still hot. He waited a moment for Olimar to finish pouring himself a glass of tea. Olimar, noticing him, passed him the jar. Chrom nodded in appreciation and filled his own cup, before grabbing a roasted Pikpik carrot from one platter, and a few frog legs from the other. Finally, Chrom swiped one of the disposable bowls and ladled a few scoops of his stew in and began wolfing down the food.

The food was fantastic. Usually, for the meetings of the Dad's Club, they got carry out from somewhere. However, after a long discussion about their home-grown master recipes, Game and Watch had gotten the idea to propose that they actually have a potluck of their own with the dishes they had just bragged about. And Chrom was not regretting his vote to make it happen in the slightest. The others knew what they were doing, that was for sure. And judging by the speed that everybody was eating at, the others were also enjoying the food. They ate with voracious appetites with minimal conversation for some time. Eventually, they began to slow down.

Stomach full, Chrom took a moment to appreciate the situation. The Dad's Club had been formed by all of the fathers and father figures of the Super Smash Bros. It wasn't easy being an intergalactic hero and a dad at the same time, and the members of the Dad's Club were there to help and encourage each other as best they could. It was quite the interesting group that they made. But it was a group of men who Chrom could trust and who he got along with splendidly. And for that comradery, he was tremendously grateful.

Bowser leaned back in his chair, squeaking under the weight of his shell.

"Ah….that was fantastic! What a great idea GW!" he boomed.

"Yeah! That was great!" said Olimar. "And my oxygen screen helmet worked perfectly!"

Chrom smiled. Olimar's oxygen screen was a flexible energy-based screen over a gap in a specialized helmet that allowed him to eat food straight from the environment without risking oxygen poisoning. It had cost quite a pretty penny, but he and the other members had pitched in some cash to help out the space captain, and he was glad that Olimar could participate in the feasting this time.

Game and Watch smiled. "Glad that this was a success. Now, onto the second matter of business. We have another Smasher who qualifies as a candidate for Dad's Club."

"Of course! Corrin and Azura are expecting. Congrats to them!" said Olimar.

"So, how are we going to do this? Corrin is getting an invite to the club, right?"

"Of course," said Chrom. The others nodded in agreement.

"All right. So, when are we going to consider him a dad?" asked Game and Watch. "When his son is born or right now?

"Hmm…I would we could just get him in now," said Snake after some deliberation.

"Why's that?" asked Game and Watch.

"Well, we have a wide definition of what counts as a dad, right? For instance, Byron is a surrogate dad to his group of mercenaries due to their…situation, right?" said Snake.

Chrom nodded. Due to their delicate situation as nobles of the fallen Adrestian Empire, Byron had taken several of his former students from his time teaching at the Garreg Mach monetary under his wing as mercenaries. He wasn't totally filled in on the entire situation, as the whole thing apparently had been some sort of backroom deal with the King of Faerghus, with whom Byron had fought during the Reunification War of Fodlan a few years ago. The only reason that Chrom even knew that much was because he had insider info on their situation, as Byron's twin sister Brynhilde was married to his brother in law, Robert. Though the two men didn't see each other as often as they would have liked to, they maintained a warm friendship that had lasted for decades.

Olimar piped up. "And neither Snake or Chrom is …uh… a father in the traditional sense. So, I think that Corrin being an expecting father counts."

Chrom nodded. Snake was practically the second father of Sunny, a girl that Otacon and Naomi had adopted. He didn't know the specifics of the situation, but Snake's reluctance to talk about probably meant that it wasn't a good idea to press too much. And it wasn't like he was one to talk about sharing sensitive subjects, either. He…had lost his wife, Robin, and three children in a tragic fire several years ago. There wasn't a day that he didn't think of them, and there were many reasons he didn't talk about it much. Thankfully, the others had been very understanding.

"When you think about it, I don't think that we have any reason to not include Corrin right away!" said Pac Man.

Bowser nodded. "That's fair. I don't have any objections."

"Let's have a quick vote. All in favor of inviting Corrin right now, raise your hand," said Game and Watch. Everybody raised their hand.

"All right, unanimous vote. Who's going to deliver the invite?"

"I'll do it," said Chrom. "I spar with him enough of the time. I'll invite him to the next meeting, right?"

"That's right," said Game and Watch. "Anyway, that concludes our agenda. That means its poker time!"

There was a general cheer. Bowser looked around him.

"Wait, where'd I leave the chips?"

The others looked around the table but didn't see the case.

Bowser suddenly scratched chin awkwardly. "Oh wait, I left it in the kitchen. I'll be right back."

Bowser stomped off towards the door back into the mansion.

After a short silence, Pac Man said, "So, anybody got anything interesting going on?"

"I'm off with Master Hand to destroy that Subspace Core we took from the Space Pirates once we're done with training," said Byron. "So, I'll be out in deep space for a few weeks while we get out far enough to destroy it.

"Oh, right! Who's going with you?" asked Olimar.

"Well, Master Hand, of course. We'll also have Waluigi and his Piranha Plant, Terry, Banjo and Kazooie, and Crazy Hand. I think Joker and Luminary will be coming with us, and I want to say Master Hand was trying to get a few more people to come with," said Byron.

Snake nodded. "Sounds like you've got a handful."

Byron let out a dry chuckle. "Yeah. Joker hates Waluigi's plant. At least I have Banjo and Terry to help me keep things civil."

"Say, didn't Terry go out to some martial arts tournament for a few days?" asked Pac Man with a sip of his tea. "When's Terry supposed to be back?"

"Tomorrow, I think," said Byron after a moment of thought. "Because we leave the day after tomorrow."

"Have fun," said Chrom jokingly. "Don't space out too much."

Byron rolled his eyes. "Sure. But I'll have to dream a bit. Can't be too grounded if I want to go to space."

"Yeah," said Pac Man. "But if you're head's in the clouds, that means you aren't in space yet."

"Of course. If we're gonna get out that far, we're gonna have to shoot for the stars," said Bryon.

There was a moment of silence, before all present burst into uproarious laughter.

"Ah, that was pretty good!" wheezed Game and Watch.

"I know, right?" said Chrom.

Suddenly, the door to the Mansion opened and Bowser stepped out with a case in his hand.

"Got the case! Poker time boys!"

There was another cheer. Chrom rubbed his hands as Bowser began dealing the cards. He grabbed his hand of cards and glanced at his hand. Not too bad. He looked up his poker face ready. Time to make the guys read and weep.

* * *

**So, I have a few items to address here at the end. **

**First of all. I anticipate what I did with Chrom's family causing some uproar…don't worry too much on that front. I'd provide more details now, but that would go into spoiler territory. More on that is coming later. For now, just know that some things had to be changed up with putting Chrom and Marth in the same timeframe. **

**Second of all, those of you who read last week's chapter will remember that I have an announcement this week. Well, here's the announcement. You remember that longfic that I said that would accompany this fic in the first chapter? It's finally coming out! Hooray! Unfortunately, it's going to be about two weeks before I can get the first chapter out due to finals (sigh), but it's finally gonna go live! I've been working on this for quite some time, so I'm quite excited to start publishing. **

**Third and finally, if you're not interested in a long fic and just want more Library of Moments chapters, fret not. There will be more Library of Moments chapters that will come while my longfic is being posted, though those chapters will come at my usual pace of whenever I happen to catch some inspiration. **

**And of course, here's my shameless plug for my discord server that I'm sure you've all come to expect by now: Are you interested in Super Smash Bros Fanfiction and Fanart? Then the Super Smash Prose Discord server is for you! If this interests you, the Discord ID is gDK48ua.**

**Stay safe out there, and I'll see you all after finals!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey! After somewhere around 6 months, I've actually written something for this fic! Hooray!**

**So, I come bearing some good news and a little bit of bad news. The bad news is that I'm not going to be taking any more requests. I simply just don't get to them fast enough at all. However, I'm going to honor the 2 requests that I did receive. As such, the good news is that we've got a double upload today! This is the first one, from Smooth Criminal, which was a request for a chapter about the Phantom Thieves!**

* * *

"Wow! This place is awesome!" said Ryuji. Ren, or Joker as he was better known, grinned. He'd been similarly impressed when he'd first seen the Mansion.

"No kidding!" said Ann. "It really is as impressive up close!"

"All right, we're here!" said Captain Falcon from the driver's seat as the car stopped in front of the front door. Joker opened the door and jumped out, as his fellow Phantom Thieves followed suit.

"I thought you said this place was a base, not a residence," said Yusuke. "Its architecture is remarkable. It suggests a mixture of utility and aesthetic design."

"It doubles as both," said Ren. "I stay here when on duty you know. It's a pretty nice, relaxing place!"

Makoto stared up at the mansion. "I'm nervous! It's an imposing building, full of a ton of the most famous people in the galaxy!"

"Oh, don't worry about them," said Haru. "I'm sure they're nice people."

"They are," said Ren. "The Smashers are among the nicest people I've met. You don't have to worry, regardless of who we bump into! Well, there might be a few exceptions, but I don't think any of them are here right now."

"Yeah, and either way, I'm the reason that we're all here!" said Futaba cheerily. "They asked for me specifically! You don't have to worry about being the center of attention or anything!"

"I sure hope so," said Makoto. "Its nerve wracking to get to meet the Smashers on such short notice!"

She gave Ren an indignant glare. He shrugged. The whole trip had been a very impromptu thing. Just yesterday, Ren had gotten a call from Snake and ROB, telling him that Indigo, one of the Pokemon trainers needed some backup on a computer related matter, and requested that he bring Futaba in to help. After talking it over, Ren had managed to convince them that it was a good opportunity to bring the rest of the Phantom Thieves with them. After all, as an affiliate group with the Smashers, it was only proper to use the opportunity to familiarize them with the faculties of Smash Mansion. Who knew when they may be called upon to assist the Smashers in some way? This was already the standard protocol for all affiliate groups, and Ren didn't see any harm in making a team road trip out of it.

Ren opened the door to the mansion and the Phantom Thieves filed their way in. They let out gasps of surprise and awe as they walked into the foyer. It was an impressive room, with the roof rising up to the third floor of the mansion. A large chandelier hung down from the ceiling, and a small fountain sat in the middle of the room. The walls were covered in intricate carvings. Apparently made by a legendary Hand craftsman, according to Master Hand.

A few people stood in a small circle in the foyer. They looked up as the Phantom Thieves walked in.

"You must be Futaba," said one of them. He was of average height and had a lean build. He sported a dark blue jacket and jeans and had a laid-back demeanor. He had a metallic device that covered the length of his arm, a shoulder pauldron and a metal glove attached by a heavy duty wire. He stood next to Mega Man, ROB, a brown-haired bespectacled man in a lab coat and a blond girl wearing a sweater and a skirt. He walked up to Futaba and extended his hand. Futaba reached out and shook it.

"And you are?" she asked.

"I'm Indigo. Pokemon Trainer and resident hacker. I'm sure you're familiar with Mega Man and ROB. This here is Otacon and Sunny. Joker says you know a thing or two about computers?"

Futaba chuckled. "Hehehe… you could say that I do. Joker told me that you had some computer stuff to do, but he didn't tell me exactly what we'd be doing."

"Trying to decrypt a hard drive. We recovered it from somebody suspected to be part of a hacking ring, but I've hit a bit of a snag. They've got this thing encrypted really, really good. If I tried to do it alone, it would take me a week. So, to speed things up, I decided to call in the cavalry. Thought I'd try to turn this into a Smash Bros Hacker Convention."

"Oooh!" said Futaba, instantly interested. "You certainly called the right person. Now, where's this encrypted hard drive?

"In the control room," said Indigo. "Oh, and I took the liberty of getting some brain food as well as cuing up some anime."

"Oh? What show?" asked Otacon.

"All 5 seasons of Sakurai's Bizarre Adventure."

"YES!" shouted Otacon, Sunny and Futaba together. Ren gulped.

"So…this is how hackers do teambuilding?" he asked.

"Absolutely!" said Futaba. "Only the highest quality anime!"

"Well people, it's time to save ZA WARUDO!" said Indigo, moving towards the door.

"To save Za Warudo!" chorused the others in unison.

As they filed out, two figures brushed them, and rushed up to Joker. He grinned.

"Min Min! Luminary! Glad we caught you!"

"Hey Joker! I see you brought the gang with you!" said Min Min.

"Yeah! Guys, these are two of the friends that I've made here!" said Joker.

"Hey! You didn't mention one of them was a cute chick!" said Ryuji.

Min Min blushed. Ann just elbowed him. "Hey! Don't say that!"

"Your timing was on point," said Luminary. "We actually get off active duty tomorrow and go home the day after. We would have missed you all had the call gone out just a day or two later!"

"Lucky, I guess," said Ann with a grin.

"Say, didn't you say that were eight of you?" asked Luminary. "And didn't you say that you were going to bring your cat with you?"

"Ah, Morgana hurt his foot, and Sumire came down with a fever last night, so they couldn't make it," said Ren. "We're going to have to bring them next time, though."

"Of course. Well, shall we start the tour of this place?" asked Luminary.

"Yeah!" said Ryuji enthusiastically. "Let's go!"

Joker put up his hands. "All right, all right! Let's not get too excited here…"

"Come on! You've been hyping this place up for months! I want to see the fabled Smash Mansion, dude!" said Ryuji.

Ann just shook her head as Haru giggled. "Boys."

* * *

_A few hours later..._

"Oh, come on! How are you this good at pool!?" shouted Ryuji.

Joker just leaned on his pool cue as Min Min and Haru celebrated a well placed shot. Ann, who had sat this round out, giggled.

"That was awesome Min Min!" said Haru. "You're amazing!"

"Thank you! I've been playing the boys a lot since I got here!" said Min Min.

Joker just grinned. She had been playing a lot, especially against him and Luminary. After touring the mansion, they circled their way back around to the rec room, while they waited for Futaba and the rest of the hacker gang to finish their computer magic. He'd quickly started a 2v2 game of pool, while Luminary had instead opted to take on Makoto in a high intensity game of chess as Yusuke looked on.

Min Min moved to line up another shot.

"So, Ren," said Haru. "What's the most interesting thing you've seen here?"

"Hmm," said Joker. "I think it would be Ness and Popo's sled duels in the winter."

"Sled duels?" asked Ryuji. "What's that?"

Ren nodded. "It's when Ness and Popo climb up the hill in the back, and sled down it. But as they do, they throw attacks at each other to try and knock the other off their sled."

"That sounds awesome!" said Ryuji.

"Is that even safe?" asked Ann.

"I agree! That sounds dangerous!" gasped Haru.

"It's not too dangerous," said Min Min. "They only use weak attacks."

"It's an interesting dynamic," said Ren. "Popo is much better at handling his sled, but Ness is the better marksman of the two."

"That sounds quite exciting to watch, though," said Ann. "What about you Min Min?"

Min Min thought for a moment. "I think the most interesting thing I've seen here is the Pokémon trainers battle! They did a two vs two battle and it was the most intense battle I think I've ever seen!"

"Really?" asked Haru.

"Oh yes," said Min Min. "Their teamwork and coordination is amazing! And the combo moves that they used were really inspiring! I've been working with Joker and Luminary to create similar attacks of our own!"

"How powerful are we talking?" asked Ryuji.

"Well, one of them was this electrified wave that swept over the entire battlefield!" said Min Min. "And there was this other one which was a whirlwind of fire! It took really strong moves from the other side to stop them! Or at least, that's what Princess Peach told me."

"Sounds pretty neat!" said Ann. "We Phantom Thieves have combos of our own, but it doesn't sound like ours quite match up. We need to work on them! Then we'll really be unstoppable!"

"So, what do you do?" asked Min Min. "Ren told me you take down criminals?"

"Yeah! That's us!" said Ryuji. "We do it all! We bring down the corrupt bigwigs and help keep the streets safe too!"

"So how did you get the moniker of Phantom Thieves?" asked Min Min.

"It was one of Ryuji's ideas," said Ann. "And somehow, it stuck."

"Hey! That was a good idea! That's why it stuck around!" said Ryuji.

"That's funny!" giggled Min Min.

"So, how did you end up joining the Smasher, Min Min?" asked Haru.

"I helped Mario, Terry, Ryu and Samus clean up some gangsters in my hometown. They were pretty impressed with my fighting style, and they invited me to join! I'm actually originally an ARMS fighter!" said Min Min. "They call me the Ramen Bomber! I bring martial arts, ramen, orange and girl power to the arena!"

"So, you have special springy arms that you fight with, right?" asked Haru. "I've seen a fight or two on TV. It's absolutely fascinating!"

"Yeah!" said Min Min. "I have the ARMS gene. My arms are well...like springs. So, I can extend them a lot farther than most people can. It's what got me into the ARMs tournaments in the first place!"

"That's pretty neat!" said Ryuji. "Ren's mentioned that your different boxing gloves have come in handy a lot! Like the ones that shoot lasers!"

"Oh, the Dragon Gloves?" asked Min Min. "Yeah, those are pretty fun to use!"

"Yeah, we use a variety of weaponry too," said Ryuji. "We all have our favorites. But a lot of our equipment is our various gadgets. We're the sneaky types. We can't be too over the top, you know?"

"Of course," said Min Min. "You guys are the stealthy type. I guess that's why Ren got on the Stealth Team."

"Naturally," said Joker with a grin.

"So, what are you classified as?" asked Haru.

"Just a regular combat Smasher for now," said Min Min.

"For now?" asked Haru.

Min Min nodded. "Oh, well, I may get slotted onto a team later. If they need me. Like if we had a cooking team, I'd probably be on it. I can count on one hand how many Smashers are really good cooks. Some of them are really bad you know! Like poor Fox – all he knows how to do is brew coffee! And Falco is just as bad! All they eat is preserved, pre-packaged food! Samus even said that they'd probably get sick from eating fresh food because it doesn't have any preservatives in it!"

That got a laugh from everybody.

"Though actually," said Min Min. "Joker might actually make that team too. His curry is very good."

"See!" said Joker. "I'm a man of many talents. Maybe I could get on all of the teams one day!"

Ann snorted. "You wish."

"So, what are the other Smasher specialty teams and how do you get on one?" asked Ryuji.

"Well," said Min Min. "It's a way to gather a brain trust of Smashers who are good at a specialty subject. The two most frequently called in teams are the Stealth Team and the Diplomacy Team. Obviously, stealthy Smashers like Joker are on the Stealth Team. The Diplomacy team is usually sent when there's negotiating to do. Like when there's a chance of preventing a fight. But there are other, smaller teams. There's the computers team, the strategy team, the transport team, and so on."

"So would Joker have to give up being on the stealth team to be on the cooking team?" asked Ann teasingly.

"Actually, no. You can be on more than one team. Like Rosalina is on the transport team because she has her observatory and can travel around the galaxy in it, but she's also on the history team, since she keeps really good records of stuff," said Min Min.

"So, it's similar to how we have different Phantom Thieves with different specialties," summarized Ryuji.

"Yeah, that's a good way to put it," said Ren as he lined up a shot.

"What roles do you have on your team?" asked Min Min.

"Well, Ren's the leader, obviously," said Ryuji. "Ann and I are the usual ones on fieldwork with him, even though everybody gets time in the field except for Futaba. She's on full time hacker duty! Makoto deals with our strategy as well as equipment and supplies, Haru is our liaison to several of our connections and Yusuke does a lot of our branding. Like our calling cards!"

Min Min tilted her head. "That's awfully bold of you to leave calling cards. Are you sure it's safe?

"Well, we haven't gotten caught yet!" said Ryuji. "Well, only by you guys. Your stealth team is really good."

Ren leaned back against the wall behind him. "Yeah, that was quite the shock, let me tell you."

Min Min just giggled. "The phantoms weren't so ghostly after all!"

Ren sighed. "Yeah. And then they have the gall to tell me that I'm not an adult so I have to undergo training. At least I'm already on the Stealth Team."

"Is it unusual to be put on a team that quickly?" asked Haru.

"Yeah. They usually don't put you on a team so quickly after graduating from Kid Smasher to Adult Smasher. I'm an exception because stealth is my main selling point," said Ren.

"That makes sense," said Haru. "You'd probably get beaten pretty bad by Min Min in a straight up fight!"

"Excuse me?" said Ren, feigning offense.

Min Min just laughed. "I dunno. Ren is really tricky. I don't think it would be quite as straight forward as that."

"Come on, Min Min! Use your girl power!" said Ann, pumping her fist. "You can beat four eyes!"

"Hey! You should be rooting for Ren! Isn't he our friend?" said Ryuji.

"Girl. Power." said Ann emphatically.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Indigo walked in with Otacon, Sunny, and Futaba. They all had bowls of ice cream in their hands.

"Oh! We have ice cream?" asked Min Min.

"Yeah," said Indigo. "Might want to get there quick before Kirby and Dedede get to it."

"Hey!" called Min Min to Luminary and Yusuke. "Want to get ice cream?"

"I'm in!" said Luminary, jumping out of his chair. Yusuke rose with a little more elegance.

"Well? What are we waiting for?"

"Follow me!" said Min Min with a laugh as she went straight for the door.

Joker shook his head and followed his fellow Phantom Thieves through the door. Things tended to get crazy with his team around. But he wouldn't trade it for the world.

* * *

**Just as a quick reminder, this was part one of a double upload! Don't forget to check out next chapter!**


	12. Chapter 12

**All right, here's part two of this double upload! This is the second one, from Stripe the Hedgetiger who requested a chapter featuring King Dedede and Sonic!**

* * *

Dedede shuffled his way through the halls of Smash Mansion, headed towards the kitchen. He was hungry. He'd gotten distracted by an unexpected bill that had been mailed express to him at Smash Mansion. To be totally honest, he hadn't been expecting the Clean Rivers Association to put their proposal out so quickly. It honestly wasn't too bad of a proposal either. It would need a few tweaks on a few of the finer points, but the bulk of it was almost proclamation worthy.

With a large yawn, he made his way into the kitchen. It was mostly empty. After all, it was 4:00 in the afternoon. That bill had taken him longer to read through then he'd thought. Dedede walked over the rice cookers and noted with great disdain the dry, crunchy looking chunks of leftover rice sitting in the bottom. Clearly nobody had eaten it for a few days, and nobody had cleaned it out. Yeesh. That was disgusting.

Dedede poked his head into the cabinet where the rice was kept and sighed. The bag was empty, save for a few taunting grains of rice sitting at the bottom. He shook his head in disappointment. He crumpled up the bag and shoved it in the garbage can. Seriously, what slob hadn't thrown out the empty bag of rice? Even he, a king would even do that!

Dedede waddled over to the fridge and opened the door. He grabbed a jar of pickles and cracked it open. To his dismay, it was almost empty. Dedede absentmindedly chucked the remaining 4 pickles into his mouth and began munching on them. They were getting a little soft, but the flavor was still there at any rate.

Dedede scanned the rest of the contents of the fridge. Egh. Nothing good. Well, almost nothing good. Everybody knew better than to eat Samus's leftovers, even if they were from some fancy restaurant with a name he couldn't pronounce. And heaven help the unfortunate soul that ate Falco's spicy pickles or Olimar's Pik Pik carrots. Looked like Kirby had beat him to the punch to just about everything else. Except for one particularly sad looking apple in the back corner. That was probably going straight to the compost heap to be quite honest.

With a sigh Dedede walked over to his last resort, the pantry. He shuffled through, inspecting the contents of the shelves. They were rather bare. It was to be expected. Today was the day before grocery day. He grumbled as he picked up a lone can of sardines. He considered it for a moment but realized that there wasn't any rice to eat with it. He wasn't going to keep a figure like his with these paltry rations.

He heard the patter of several fast footsteps behind him. As he poked his head out of the pantry, he saw Sonic opening the rice cooker. He made a noise of disgust.

"Yeah, that stuff's old," said Dedede.

"No kidding!" said Sonic. "This is awful! Who just left it sitting here?"

"Dunno," said Dedede. "Kirby already beat us to the fridge and the pantry. I'm gonna go grab some lunch somewhere. You want to come with?"

"Sounds good to me!" said Sonic. "Say, why don't we hit up the food trucks at the park?"

"Are they there on Thursdays?" asked Dedede. "I usually go on Friday."

"Yeah! They're there from Thursday to Sunday!" said Sonic.

"Sounds like a plan to me!" said Dedede. "I'll meet you down in the garage."

Sonic just chuckled. "Garage? Oh boy….I'm gonna be waiting for lunch, aren't I?"

Dedede shrugged. "Unless you want to carry me there. In which case, be my guest!"

Sonic shook his head. "Yeah, no. You're taking your car or whatever. I'll see you there!"

Dedede just chuckled. "See you there!"

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, Dedede's warp star pulled into a parking spot at the park. A blue blur whizzed up to him as he got off his warp star.

"Hey, what took you so long! I'm getting hungry here!" said Sonic with a cheery grin.

"I don't drive as fast as you run, speedy. And it's not like I'm any less hungry, then you are," said Dedede.

"Yeah, yeah!" said Sonic. "That's what they all say. Everyone around here is too slow!"

Dedede snorted. "Too slow. Please! Even I'm plenty fast enough!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I don't think so! You're almost as bad as Bowser!"

"Maybe so, but don't forget who lands the heavy hits!" said Dedede.

"Hey! I hit pretty hard!" said Sonic.

Dedede just chuckled. "Keep telling yourself that, string bean!"

"String bean! Well, keep telling yourself that you're fast…uh….lima bean!"

Dedede just laughed. "Hah! Lima bean? That doesn't do my mighty physique justice, you know!"

"You stink," grumbled Sonic.

Dedede shook his head as they made their way towards the food trucks. Lima bean? That was the understatement of the century right there.

"Well, I'm starving, so I'm gonna get in line. You see anything you fancy?" asked Dedede.

"Yeah, all my usual favorites are here today!" said Sonic. "Don't worry about me!"

Dedede nodded. "Meet you by the picnic benches?"

"Sure thing!"

* * *

Nearly an hour later, Dedede sighed and leaned back at the picnic table where he was sitting with Sonic.

"Man, those were some good burgers. It's a good day to hit the burger truck, that's for sure!" said Dedede.

"Oh yeah? Which one? I'm gonna have to try that one next time," said Sonic.

"You sure about that?" asked Dedede. "I wouldn't be surprised if you get those chili cheese dogs every single time you come here."

"Guilty as charged!" said Sonic cheerily. "But honestly it's a good idea to try new things! I'll just get one of those burgers instead of one of my chili cheese dogs!"

Dedede snorted. "You ever try any of the other food here?"

"Of course!" said Sonic. "I fancy myself something of a foodie!"

"Oh, really now?" said Dedede. He pointed to one of the food trucks. "So, what do you think of the Hyrule style stir fry truck over there?"

"Oh, it's great! I like their beef stir fry! It's really good with the apples and potatoes and onions! And their secret seasoning really ties everything together! I also like their Mighty Bananna fries!"

"And that one? That Isle Delfino one? What's the best item there?"

"Oh, the Pineapple shaved ice is my favorite there! Though the fruit cups have some really good variety there too!" said Sonic.

"And that truck over there? The red one?" asked Dedede.

"Oh, that one? The barbeque grill one? Their turkey legs are the bomb!" said Sonic. "But then again, everything on the menu is great! The corn on the cob, the baked beans, the barbeque ribs, the pulled pork, everything! Those guys have some talent!"

"Well, I stand corrected. You do know your stuff!" said Dedede. "So which ones do you recommend?"

"I definitely recommend Tim's Hot Dog Truck! Their chili cheese dogs are some of the best I've ever had!" said Sonic. "I also recommend the ice cream truck over there. The ice cream scoops are the size of my fist!"

"Yeah, Jerry's Ice Cream? Yeah, their banana splits are fantastic," said Dedede.

"And the shakes are massive! I always get the extra large! Don't tell Mario, he can never figure out where my sugar rushes come from! I think he's been snooping to try and figure out!"

Dedede burst out laughing. "Ah, so that's what's up. Eh, what the plumber doesn't know won't hurt him."

"No, it definitely won't!" said Sonic. "But what gets your royal recommendation?"

"Kevin's Burgers for one," said Dedede. "Good selection of toppings and buns. I prefer beef, but the other patty types are pretty good.

"Yeah, I can tell! You scarfed those burgers down fast!" said Sonic.

"For desserts, I like Martin's Mobile Bakery. The crepes and muffins are next level. Worthy of royalty as rated by a royal himself!" chuckled Dedede.

"I'm gonna have to try it out!" said Sonic.

"For sure," said Dedede. "Say, you ever been to that traditional Tellius restaurant downtown? Beorc Cabin?"

"Oh yeah! I've been there!" said Sonic. "The stews are great there!"

"Ah! I'm more of a fan of the ribs myself. They don't use barbeque sauce, but the sauce that they use is top notch," said Dedede. "Oh! By the way, have you been to that Human food place? The one that's a few blocks from the convention center? According to Skylark, it's as authentic as you can get!"

"Really now? I've never been there! What's it called?" asked Sonic.

"It's called Jun's Restaurant. Apparently, its traditional!" said Dedede.

"Is it really? Traditional from Horizon?" asked Sonic.

"No, traditional from the Human home world. Where did they say it was from? Japan, I think? She recommended the….uh…teppanyaki? Or something like that," said Dedede. "Apparently they cook it for you fresh."

"Huh. Sounds interesting. Do they have chili dogs there?" asked Sonic innocently.

Dedede gave him a withering glare. "You and your chili dogs. And no, I don't know if they do."

"Huh, that's a missed opportunity right there!" said Sonic. "I guess I'll have to check it out on one of my non chili dog days!"

"Well, I'm going to check it out tomorrow. See if this 'teppanyaki" is any good."

"Well, well. Can't let you go alone and eat all the food before I get there!" said Sonic. "After all, you've already stolen all the food in a kingdom once before!"

Dedede snorted. "You asking me to do it again?"

"I don't mind, as long as you leave all the chili cheese dogs!" said Sonic.

"All the food means all the food, you know," said Dedede.

Sonic paled slightly. "Man, you take this kinda thing really seriously!"

Dedede just chuckled. "If you're gonna do something, you gotta do it right! If I'm gonna eat all the food, I'm gonna eat all of it! No morsel left behind!"

Sonic shuddered. "No wonder Kirby thought you used to be a villain! What kind of horrible, Kirby hating plan is that?"

"The kind that gets Kirby's ire very quickly," chuckled Dedede. "Though the reason I stole all the food that one time was to protect it. I got….uh…bad intel."

"That must have been some really bad intel," said Sonic.

"Tell me about it. All of my advisors tell me that Nightmare is going to steal all the food in Dream Land. So, I get all the food so I can keep it safe! And then Kirby comes in hangry and kicks my tail. Lemme tell ya, you do NOT want to fight a hangry Kirby!"

"I bet! How long did it take for him to get to you?"

"A couple days," huffed Dedede. "I moved faster than I should have – most of my minions were away dividing rations from the food stores when he got to my castle. I didn't set up any of the logistical stuff and it was a total mess. Stuff was all over the place, at least 10% of the perishables didn't make it into a fridge, and nobody knew where anything was! I was literally writing my plan to ration food to the people when he kicked my door down. That was the real nightmare of the situation! Lemme tell ya, I've never forgotten logistics again!"

"What happened to the advisors?"

"Fired em all," said Dedede.

"Hah! Serves them right! But seriously, I have no idea how you put up with all that fancy ruling stuff! I'd rather just run around and not have to worry about all that boring stuff!" said Sonic.

"Ah, so is that why you've never asked Amy out? You'd rather avoid all responsibility?" joked Dedede.

Sonic sputtered. "No! It's that….well you see….listen! I don't wanna talk about it! I got other stuff to do and I haven't decided yet!"

Dedede just chuckled and patted Sonic on the shoulder. "Good luck with that, string bean!"

"Yeah, laugh it up," grumbled Sonic.

"Anyway, I gotta get back. Got some legislation to edit and send back. You know, fancy ruler stuff."

"All right! Good luck with your stuffy laws!"

Dedede stood up and stretched.

"Ahhh. Maybe we'll have to get lunch again!"

"Yeah! We gotta get some chili cheese dogs next time!"

Dedede chuckled. "You know what? I think that I'll take you up on that! It's been a while since I've had some of those. I'll see you then!"

"See you then!" said Sonic as he dashed off.

Dedede just shook his head. Who knew Sonic was a foodie? He just shrugged and ambled off to his Warp Star. Looked like he'd be seeing more of the Blue Blur in the future. Well mostly for the food recommendations. But as long as the food was good, he was looking forward to it!

* * *

**And that's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed this double upload! I'll see you all next time!**

**One last thing – shout outs to my friend Raeror for making the awesome cover art for this fic!**


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